Mr.Roman Zabilyy, one of the main researches of the UPA, the director of the Lviv’s National museum in memoriam to the victims of totalitarian regimes “Prison on Lontsky street” (it was established during the presidency of Mr.Yuschenko and was part of the SBU organizational structure) was surrounded by the SBU officers, when got out of the train connecting Lviv and Kiev. Mr.Zabilyy was “invited” to get into a car, was taken into the office and was questioned on historical topics.
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Yesterday at 7:30 am, Mr.Roman Zabilyy, one of the main researches of the UPA, the director of the Lviv’s National museum in memoriam to the victims of totalitarian regimes “Prison on Lontsky street” (it was established during the presidency of Mr.Yuschenko and was part of the SBU organizational structure) was surrounded by the SBU officers, when got out of the train connecting Lviv and Kiev. Mr.Zabilyy was “invited” to get into a car, was taken into the office and was questioned on historical topics.
Without his permission the agents seized all electronic storage devices that contained documents with the information about the activity of the UPA that he was collecting for several years. They also started a criminal investigation against him.
The museum, that is lead by Roman Zabilyy, was established during the presendency of Mr.Yuschenko and it is part of the SBU’s organizational structure.
We have asked few questions to Mr.Zabilyy and also to an ex-director of the SBU’s main archive Mr.Volodymyr Vyatrovych, who also happened to become a person of an interest of his former colegues.
Mr.Zabilyy, your collegues from SBU claim that you have revealed a state secret…
I am a director of Lviv National museum in memoriam to the victims of totalitarian regimes “Prison on Lontsky street” that is part of the SBU’s structure. So, if my Kiev bosses had some questions to me, they could simply call me. But they did it in somewhat strange manner. When I came to Kiev, I was met directly on the train station. Even though I was planning to visit the main office to clear some questions about the museum.
I had some documents about the UPA activities in my computer, those documents are already being published in mass media for a couple of years already.
As to the state secret, I do not know what they are talking about. I am a historian and a director of the museum; I have access only to the declassified documents.
How did the SBU-officers talked to you?
They said that they have information that some completely secret, not declassified information was copied and they needed to check that. I was one of the suspects.
I have given explanations to them, but that was not enough. I got a condition: in order to check whether I am telling a truth, they required to pass them [in my free will] some of my personal stuff – two hard drives and a laptop. They contained the documents that I used in my work, that were declassified for a long time. Also they contained my private research, papers that are being prepared for publication, materials that I was collecting for ten years while doing a research on the libratory movement. When I asked for a confirmation that the seizure was lawful, for example a court edict, I was given nothing.
During the conversation I was not able to understand what is going on. They did not explain exactly why I was detained. They were asking about my activities as a researcher, historian, were interested in details of what material do I use at work.
After I did not give them permission to seize the hard drives and laptom, they started to press me, said to think about the family, about that I might get five years in prison. At nine o’clock in the morning they invited the witnesses, and seized the above mentioned materials without permission.
I was not given a chance to make a call, they took away my phone. They only allowed to call my wife.
Seems that they wanted you to confess in something. In what exactly?
They asked some of my things for examination. Then they started to ask questions about what do I do, what are my research topics, what is the circle of my interests, whether I have contacts with historians from abroad, with whom do I stay in a contact. Asked to tell what did I do before, what I did in the institute of scientific studies of Ukraine. When I asked to put concrete questions to be able to give a concrete answers, they said that all this is operational information and they cannot reveal everything and they “have to carefully guide me to the point where I would be able to make a conclusion by myself”.
Did they ask about UPA?
Yes, asked why do I need this topic, maybe it would be better if I go to school as a history teacher, which is not that bad. Asked why I chose a historian career. Asked about my thoughts about the national memory, what is my attitude to the lustration.
I answered that history should be researched by historian, not politics. Then they asked about my attitude to Holodomor. I answered that I treat Holodomor as genocide and it is genocide and that historian that work with the non-classified documents, should talk about that.
What is the situation of the museum that you lead?
Starting today’s morning the access to the service rooms of the museum was terminated, the employees are not allowed to get to their working places and computers. However the exhibition is still open, visitors are allowed to come in. But I was told that the head of SBU is taking care of the museums fate and he will do everything possible to keep the existence of the museum.
Will you keep up your research of UPA?
Surely.
Translation was made by a volunteer. Thanks a lot!