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Ukrainian head of Polish group accused of treason: report

PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek 12.10.2018 10:45
Ukrainian activist Lyudmyla Kozlovska, head of a Poland-based organisation, is accused of treason and other crimes in Ukraine, according to a report.

According to Ukrainian non-government anti-corruption portal Stopkor, Kozlovska has been accused of breaking the penal code of Ukraine.

The portal added that the Security Service of Ukraine is investigating the Poland-based Open Dialogue Foundation run by Kozlovska.

According to Stopkor, Kozlovska committed treason, tried to undermine "constitutional order", tried to change Ukraine's national borders, as well as conspiring and abetting others to commit such crimes.

She is also accused of gross "financial abuse", Stopkor said.

She is expected to be tried October 15, according to the portal.

Dodgy connections?

Stopkor said that a team of investigative journalists that had been looking into Mukhtar Abylazov, a Kazakh politician and businessman accused of embezzling and mismanaging USD 6 billion worth of bank assets while serving as bank chairman.

The portal said that Russia, Ukraine and other countries were holding investigations into allegations that Ablyazov stole money from financial institutions in Kazahkstan.

Stopkor's inquiry into Ablyazov's alleged financial abuses led them to Kozlovska's foundation, the portal said.

According to the portal, Kozlovska and her foundation had provided legal support to Ablyazov.

Poland's Sieci magazine reported that Kozlovska stepped in to defend Ablyazov, who had escaped to France because he would have faced possible torture and even death if extradited.

The portal also claimed that the Ukrainian branch of Kozlovska's foundation had received funding from the disgraced banker.

Stopkor also said that Kozlovska and Ablyazov had romantic ties and that they were in an "intimate" video that was uploaded to the internet on June 13.

Shengen expulsion

In August, Kozlovska was expelled from the Schengen area after her name appeared in the area's border control system.

According to reports, Poland put her name in the Schengen Information System after the country’s Internal Security Agency negatively reviewed Kozlovska’s application to reside in the European Union long-term.

Stanisław Żaryn, the spokesman for Poland’s special services coordinator, Mariusz Kamiński, said the Polish agency had "serious doubts concerning the financing of the Open Dialogue Foundation, which is run by Ludmila Kozlovska".

But Kozlovska said the move was "Kamiński’s personal political revenge on my husband, Bartosz Kramek" Polish news portal onet.pl reported, adding that Kramek had been involved in "anti-government civic movements".

Interference in internal affairs

Kozlovska has since reentered Schengen twice, on the invitation of politicians in Berlin and Brussels, to speak to the Bundestag and European Parliament about the rule of law in Poland.

But a Polish official has accused those politicians of interfering in Warsaw's internal affairs.

According to Stopkor, prior to her expulsion, Kozlovska accused Ukrainian journalists in Brussels who had asked her for comments of spying and working for special services.

She has since accused journalists of stalking her, Stopkor added.

The portal reported that, since her August expulsion from Schengen, Kozlovska had been living in a hotel in Kiev.

Stopkor added that she only leaves the hotel when accompanied by bodyguards.

"It is curious why a human rights defender needs to hide behind bodyguards and who funds their services," Stopkor said, adding that that Kozlovska was avoiding "uncomfortable questions".

(vb/pk)

Source: polradio.pl

tags: corruption
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