Donetsk, Jun 29 - DAN. Ostrava District Court made the decision to shut down the DPR Representative Office in the Czech Republic under Ukraine’s pressure, acting DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said on Thursday.
“Ostrava District Court ruled to liquidate the DPR representative centre under Ukrainian authorities’ pressure exerted through the Czech Foreign Ministry, which contradicts the earlier decision to register the above organisation,” Nikonorova said.
“We regret to acknowledge direct manifestation of double standards policy, undisguised censorship and a failure to observe the basic principles of a democratic system,” she said.
The DPR representative office was registered as a non-profit making public organisation meeting all norms of Czech law, Nikonorova said.
The Centre director said the court’s ruling would be appealed against at the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic.
“Our associates are making all efforts to keep the Centre to continue helping Donbass people,” she said.
The DPR Representative Office was opened in Ostrava on 1 September 2016, though it had actually started to operate two months before. The initiator of its establishment was Czech politician and co-chairwoman of the Narodni Domobrana (People's Militia), public organisation Neal Liskova. Liskova also took charge of the DPR Office.
Immediately after the opening of the Centre, Ukraine sent a note of protest to the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Kiev. The reports on the court’s decision to shut down the DPR Representative Office came on 28 June 2017. *jk