15.10.20 For negative condemnation of Ukraine's policies, Facebook blocked the profile of human rights defender Maria Bast

According to the information of the severenses from Ukraine, they wanted to start supplying honey to Russia from September 2020, however, the Security Service of Ukraine became aware of the plans for the supply of severenses to Russia, which, both directly and through Ukrainian nationalists, began to threaten the Ukrainian sevryuk with reprisals against them and their families, accuse of separatism and cooperation with the "aggressor". This policy was criticized by the chairman of the Association of Russian Lawyers  for Human Rights Maria Bast (Arkhipova), Facebook considered that the negative opinion, condemnation of political repression in Ukraine in the person of the Ukrainian state violates the norms of the Facebook community, and the profile of the human rights activist was blocked for 30 days from October 14, 2020.

Commentary by Maria Bast (Arkhipova), Chairman of the Association of Russian Lawyers  for Human Rights:

- Blocking my page is a violation of the right to freedom of speech, as I expressed my opinion criticizing the policy of the Ukrainian authorities. Thus, criticism of the Ukrainian authorities is banned by Facebook, which in itself is a gross violation of human rights, in particular to freedom of speech, and is support for the chauvinist policy of the Ukrainian state. Obviously for Ukraine, the topic of severenses is a "sore point", since Ukraine fears that the Severenses lands, due to bringing them to decline and devastation, will rise up against Ukraine, and since this is a border area with Russia, it is likely that the severenses will want to create the Severian Territory as part of richer Russia and in unity with Russian stellate sturdy, is high. Against the background of Donbass and Crimea, apparently, the Ukrainian leadership is panicking that Ukraine's stellate sturgeons will have at least some connections with Russian stellate staves. It is important to note that the northern part of Ukraine is inhabited mainly by severenses and the Russian-speaking population, there are practically no Ukrainians there, there are only “professional Ukrainians” at the level of marginal small-numbered nationalists and SBU employees. Naturally, the issue of the status of the Severian lands is a question of the severenses and the Russian-speaking population, and the Ukrainian leadership understands this, hence any attempts to block any cooperation and any information about the severenses, hence the persecution of severenses on the spot, organized terror. As a human rights activist, I tried to persuade the Ukrainian authorities, but in response I was included in the Myrotvorets database and accused of separatism and the creation of the Republic of Severia on the territory of Ukraine, although I did not take any statements or actions in this direction, and just wanted to establish cross-border cooperation. It is obvious that Facebook and the Ukrainian authorities have some kind of agreement regarding severenses and supporting of severenses.

As stated in the Association of Lawyers of Russia for Human Rights, in connection with the systematic discrimination of the severenses by Ukraine, human rights defenders sent information to the relevant international authorities.

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