Kharkiv City Council decision puts memorial plaque to Josyf Slipyj in danger of vandalism

As reported the secretary of Commission of Toponymy and Protecting the Historical and Cultural Environment of the Kharkiv City Council Oleksiy Khoroshkovatyj, the city authority is preparing grounds to remove the memorial plaque to prominent religious and public figure of Ukraine, long-term political prisoner of Stalin’s camps, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Josyf Slipyj (http://kp.ua/daily/071010/246974/). This board was installed in August 2005 by efforts of public organizations of Kharkiv and the World Congress of Ukrainians. The plaque was placed on the building of the former deportation prison (Prison Castle) where in the 1960s Patriarch Joseph was held during his arrest (now the building houses the police force for the Lenin district of Kharkiv). At its March 30, 2010, session, the above-mentioned city commission resolved to abolish the order of the Kharkiv city chairman № 1630 from July 14, 2005, about the permission to establish the memorial plaque. In the opinion of the Ukrainian public, this puts the memorial plaque in danger of dismantlement. Information has been received about possible acts of vandalism to the memorial plaque to the UGCC patriarch. The Ukrainian public of Kharkiv, faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church deem the decision of the City Commission of Toponymy and Protecting the Historical and Cultural Environment as provocative and such which destroys principles of civil society in the Kharkiv region, creates grounds for interdenominational and international discord, and also leads to the escalation of public tension in the multiethnic Ukrainian community. Ukrainian organizations of the region sent letters to President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and Minister of Internal Affairs Anatoliy Mogylev asking them to stop the offensive actions against the memorial plaque to the UGCC patriarch.

Pavlo Klenenko, Kharkiv