Opposition Activists Ask for Political Asylum in the Ukraine

About 100 opposition activists who had taken part in the actions of protest against the falsification of the presidential election in Belarus applied to the president of the Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, asking for political asylum. According to ProUA, on 15 May they submitted to him the appropriate letter. There they pointed that during the protest actions there took place mass arrests, during which the police beat people and violated their rights. Many students were expelled from the educational establishments. That’s why, according to the letter, many of protestors had to flee from the country. A part of the expelled students continue studying in Lithuania and Poland, but would like to transfer to the Ukraine.

According to the information of the leader of the Ukrainian youth organization Student Brotherhood Oleg Yatsenko, the Ukrainian Ministry of Science and Education stated that it was possible to educate the Belarusian refugees in the Ukraine free of charge, because both countries are members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Besides, on 12 May Mr Yushchenko stated that the Ukraine was ready to become a mediator between the Belarusian authorities and the opposition.