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Rally in Support of Nadiya Savchenko in Toronto

Mar 15, 2016 | Community, Featured, Newpathway, Ukraine

New Pathway.

On March 9, 2016, the Ukrainian Canadian community held a new rally calling for immediate release of the Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko from the Russian jail where she is being unlawfully imprisoned. The rally was held near the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Toronto, at 175 Bloor St E. On March 3, 2016, Savchenko went on a dry hunger strike to protest her unlawful imprisonment. She stopped the dry hunger strike on March 10, and started taking water. Her health condition remains serious, as she is still on a hunger strike, and the prospects for her release are still unclear.

The Ukrainian Canadian community, along with numerous Ukrainian Diasporas around the world, has been actively supporting Nadiya Savchenko ever since her abduction by the Russian forces in Ukraine in July 2014. On March 8, 2016, a Toronto resident Elvira Saale started her own hunger strike to support Nadiya Savchenko. In her speech during the rally on March 9, Ms. Saale called upon the government of Canada to use everything in its power to assure that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin releases Nadiya Savchenko and other Ukrainian prisoners who are illegally held in Russia.

The rally was MCed by Anton Sestritsyn, Executive Director at the International Council in Support of Ukraine. Among the speakers were members of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Toronto Branch, Marijka Stadnyk and Markian Shwec; former President of UCC, Toronto Branch, Oksana Rewa; former Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Center, Ted Opitz; a member of the Russian Canadian community Denis Tsarev; the president of the International Council in Support of Ukraine, former Member of Parliament and former Member of Provincial Parliament, Yuri Shymko.

In his speech during the rally, the president of the Crimean Tatar Community of Ontario and husband of Elvira Saale, Rustem Irsay, aside from addressing Nadiya Savchenko’s imprisonment, reminded the community about other Ukrainians illegally detained in Russia, in particular Oleg Sentsov, Olexandr Kolchenko, Vice President of Crimean Tatar Majlis, Akhtem Chiygoz, and many others. Mr. Irsay said that, today, many Crimean Tatars are in danger as the Russian occupation forces are intimidating the Crimean Tatar community. Mr. Irsay called upon the Ukrainian Government to stand up for the Crimean Tatars, as not much has been done so far to protect them, he said. He reminded the Ukrainian community of the visit that Ukraine's President Poroshenko paid to Canada two years ago. According to Mr. Irsay, Mr. Poroshenko promised him personally during the visit to take care of the Tatar people and to return Crimea to Ukraine. Unfortunately, the situation in Crimea is only getting worse and there is no solution to the problem in sight. Mr. Irsay also called upon the Canadian government to help ensure that Nadiya Savchenko is released immediately.

The Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, and a noted critic of President Putin, Bill Browder, also spoke at the rally. Mr. Browder is the head of the Global Magnytsky Justice Campaign. Sergei Magnitsky was a lawyer with Hermitage Capital Management who died in pretrial detention in Russia in 2009, after a conflict with the Russian legal system. The U.S. later passed the Magnitsky Act, blacklisting Russian officials involved in Magnitsky's death. Bill Browder is seeking justice for Sergei Magnitsky and is linking Nadiya Savchenko's case to the Magnitsky's case, which, he believes, testifies to the lack of justice in today's Russia. The people who are on the Magnitsky list have one feature in common, explained Bill Browder: they do not keep their money in Russia, they send their children to schools abroad and send their wives to live abroad. Toronto, along with London and New York is among their most popular destinations worldwide. The Magnitsky Act froze assets and banned a number of Russian human rights violators from visiting the U.S. Bill Browder’s priority now is to implement the Magnitsky Act in Canada too.

He also believes that the West should apply the same tools to those responsible for Nadiya Savchenko's illegal imprisonment – “take away their visas and ban their assets.” Mr. Browder noted that, on the background of the recent talks in Canada about re-engagement with Russia, he is appealing to Parliament to pass the Magnitsky Act. In the interests of Nadiya Savchenko and Sergei Magnitsky, Bill Browder urged to put pressure on the Parliament of Canada to pass the Magnitsky Act. “It is the one tool that we have, a very real tool to punish people who are doing this”, he said.

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