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November 25, 2004

Sign and Pass Along

From PORA, A Letter of Freedom and Solidarity:

"To all CITIZENS of the FREE WORLD,

Now, while you are reading this letter, 48 million people in one of the largest countries in Europe have a unique chance to make their choice and change a corrupt ruling regime.

This autumn 2004 is the moment of truth for the Ukrainian nation

We know that the choice of the Ukrainian people is clear.
They are tired of years of corrupt and untrustworthy government. They are exhausted by permanent lies and lawlessness. They want prosperity and stability for their children. They want to live in a democratic country. They value freedom of expression and freedom of the press They want to join the European community. They want their choice to be heard and respected.

But we also know that they can be robbed of this choice, as happened during parliamentary elections in 2002, during the elections in Mukachevo and in multitudes of small towns all over Ukraine. We recognize that the People’s choice could be disgraced and replaced by the will of a small oligarchic group. And once again millions of Ukrainians will be deceived

We started this letter of freedom and solidarity to defend free and fair election results.

If you believe in freedom, if you care about the future of Ukraine, sign this letter to prevent falsifications and to protect the thousands of young Ukrainians who have created a national network of volunteers and started PORA ("It's Time!"), a civic movement aimed at ensuring and protecting fair and democratic election of the President of Ukraine.

We need your help because the regime will be afraid to break the rules in front
of because only UNITED we can win.

There is no alternative to public action:
1. Check our website www.pora.org.ua/en
2. Sign our letter of freedom and solidarity
3. Make a difference: join PORA Campaign and contribute to campaign
4. Forward this letter to your friends

There might not be other chance.

It is TIME to act, TIME to struggle, TIME to win

The letter was signed by: Show All

If you want to sign this letter please send your name, organization you represent and your email to info@pora.org.ua"

(Via Le Sabot Post-Moderne)

Posted by TulipGirl  |  08:38 PM|  TrackBack (0)  |   Words

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Hi,

Nice site. However I do have a couple of comments about this crisis.

You state, "If you believe in freedom, if you care about the future of Ukraine,". Well, I do believe in freedom and I actually do prefer a free and prosperous Ukraine than any other alternative. I also believe in the rule of law and the burden of proof when making accusations as serious as this.

I have yet to see any report on any major site or on any accepted blog that explains the proof behind these alegations of fraud. So far, all I have seen are the allegations themselves that "The election was fraudulent".

I am all for free and legal elections so I am forced to reverse the charges to the losing candidate and say that he is actively trying to circumvent the electoral process and steal the election.

The burden of proof is on the candidate making these charges and in my opinion as an outside, disinterested observer, he has failed to make his case.

All I have seen so far as "proof" is that the exit polls showed the opposite results. Well, that same scenario just happened in the USA and it was the basis for the exact same conspiracy theory. I'm sorry, but exit polling is worthless.

I have also seen statements that the election was faulty or that the standards were lacking. Fine, where's the proof?

I feel this would be a valuble addition to your blog if you could point out clearly the evidence that indicates that this election was falsified. Statements by individuals about what they "feel" is not satisfactory. That a small percentage of the population feels so strongly about this that they are willing to attend rock concerts in the streets also is not proof. I'm certain that it is easy to gather a 100,000 people for a Save the Fleas protest.

Looking through your links, I find tidbits such as "Today a woman called to the live broadcast of “Radio-marathon of freedom” radio show". I'm supposed to take this seriously?

Until I see real charges backed up by evidence, I find it extremely difficult to sympathize with your candidate. Worse, I find myself backing the forces against him for trying to undermine the will of the Ukrainian people.

Posted by: Exile at November 25, 2004 10:20 PM

Hi, Exile. . .

I understand your concern.

The OSCE has issued it's preliminary observations and conclusions. I linked to the PDF version here.

Honestly, I have not yet met a Ukrainian who doesn't think the election was completely fraudulent. The "the rule of law" is what these freedom protesters want--not rule of corrupt oligarchs.

I recommend reading the series that starts here, at Le Sabot for some background and context to the situation.

Btw, I didn't write the above letter--I'm just passing it on for the PORA student organization.

And if you read on down on my blog, you'll see it's a lot bigger than "small percentage of the population . . . attend rock concerts in the streets."

Grace,
TulipGirl

Posted by: TulipGirl at November 25, 2004 11:03 PM

I signed it.

Exile, there is already a lot of evidence, as testified by British, EU and US observers. Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana was there, and made this statement. British MP Bruce George described photographs of women poll workers having to physically prevent men from stealing ballot boxes.

It's true that detailed documentary proof has not been released to the public yet, but there can be little doubt that there really was election fraud. The EU and US wouldn't be sticking their necks out without good reason.

Posted by: Amy at November 26, 2004 02:25 AM