Yevhen HOLOVAKHA, the Institute’s deputy director, shared the bad news with UNIAN, along with a copy of the SBU letter with a schedule of such “interviews” with all of the scholars on payroll, including more than a dozen Ukraine’s noted sociologists. The letter reads that attendance is mandatory and that those failing to attend without valid reasons may find themselves forced to do so.
Holovakha told UNIAN: “This is something unprecedented in international practice – I mean summoning the entire Academic Senate for interrogation. Such academic senates [known as “scientific councils”] may have been shot, all of them, overnight under Stalin, but this letter is unbelievable in what is supposed to be a European democracy, in the 21st century. Ukraine’s current administration is obviously enjoying its omnipotence. Give me just one reason why those ‘upstairs’ should sic the SBU – rather than the militia or public prosecutor – on our scholars.”
In fact, this isn’t the first SBU case involving Ukrainian scholars. Back in the spring of 2010, the SBU launched criminal proceedings against Ruslan Zabily, curator of the Loncki Prison Museum, researcher specializing in UPA history. His, Notebook and two hard disks with historical documents were confiscated. He was formally charged with getting prepared to disclose state secrets. The historian was detained and kept being interrogated for 14 hours. In February 2011, he was “invited” to attend another five-hour “interview.”
After learning about the SBU’s new initiative concerning Ukrainian scholars, The Day called Yevhen Holovakha, whose name topped the secret police interrogation list. He answered the call while on SBU premises, saying, “They have kept me waiting for an hour, saying someone will come and show me in. None has come. That’s how our scholars are being dealt with. This attitude is a matter of principle to me.”
SBU press service explains that the scholars of the Institute of Social Studies are interviewed in conjunction with a criminal case involving government officials suspected of stealing budget money, particularly those on the payroll of the Institute’s affiliate Social Expert Study Center. SBU website reads: “The Chief Investigation Directorate of the SBU is working on a criminal case, as of February 15, on charges of embezzlement of over 920,000 hryvnias by officials of the EU Standard Adjustment Service Center, under the aegis of the Chief Government Service Directorate of Ukraine, and the Social Expert Study Center as an affiliate of the Institute of Social Studies under the aegis of the National Academy of Sciences. This case is being investigated in accordance with the laws currently in effect, including interrogations [sic] of people on the Institute’s payroll as witnesses.” No further comment was forthcoming.
Needless to say, this statement leaves a number of questions unanswered. Number one: Why this year’s SBU operations have involved mostly scholars? Are our scientists being persecuted? Is this the proper professional level on which Ukraine’s secret police should operate, considering that this country’s sovereignty has been repeatedly challenged by foreign and domestic factors?
“The SBU case doesn’t mention the Institute of Social Studies. I haven’t as yet received a clearly formulated explanation of why all members of the Institute’s Academic Senate should be interrogated. Let them explain this to me because I actually don’t understand what this case is all about. I haven’t carried out any such studies. All of the projects worked out by that affiliate have been implemented and we adopted them in due course; there are findings and formal records, so I just can’t figure out who is to blame for what. Any problems with the customer? Why not deal with him without bothering us? All research was done as commissioned by a government agency. All this is on record. Everything was done in accordance with the Institute’s rules and procedures. I explained this [to the SBU officers]. They could’ve simply visited the Institute and talked with its researchers, instead of ordering them to visit the SBU and be interrogated. This is weird and the reasons behind this are anyone’s guess. There is a criminal case being investigated. Why should it involve all members of the Academic Senate? Why should we act as witnesses? I don’t understand what’s going on,” Holovakha told The Day.
