BY
It appears Nadya Shavchenko has released a long, long
list of names for exchange between Ukraine and the “Republics” on her Facebook
page.
More accurately she
released a long list of 524 names in several categories. Category 1
prisoners of war, category 2, political prisoners, plus hundreds of missing
persons.
A regular reader will
note the deliberate absence of a link to her Facebook page for several reasons.
The first is that Nadya Savchenko admits that the list may not be
accurate. The second is that the release occurred without the blessing of
the Ukrainian security services – and for reasons that are more than
reasonable.
Although it has to be
said that the names released are perhaps more de jure classified than de facto, the SBU doesn’t enjoy the absolute parliamentary
immunity as Ms Savchenko currently does. Ergo they have to be mindful of the laws regarding data
protection – and unlike Ms Savchenko may well have to deal with any aftermath
when it comes to threats, blackmail or confidence tricksters targeting
relatives.
Whether or not the tacit
nod of the SBU was given is not irrelevant but it not the purpose of this
entry.
Further whether there
prove to be benefits or setbacks from this release for those held or their
families is also not the issue at hand.
What caught the eye was
part of a statement made by Ms Shavchenko – “An MP has
the right to access all state secrets at the highest level. We MPs are
not accountable to the SBU, we can cooperate. I will continue to
cooperate and collaborate regularly with all the services, because they are
very much closed. It’s really the power structure that protects Ukraine, so of
course I will cooperate with them. And we continue to cooperate.”
Leaving aside the longstanding issue of the absolute
lack of accountability of parliamentarians, what is simply striking about her
statement is “An MP has the right to access all
state secrets at the highest
level”.
If that be so Ukraine
has no, and will never have, any State Secrets – ever.
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