Pro-Russian armed men stand at the entrance to the regional government headquarters in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, April 30, 2014.
Pro-Russian armed men stand at the entrance to the regional government headquarters in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine, April 30, 2014. Reuters

Pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine are fast becoming objects of hate in their own territory. Having become a law unto themselves, they have placed themselves above all rules and institutions and have started administering instant justice, including "death sentences" on a jiffy by asking people to show hands in "people's court."

Farcical Justice

Recently, death sentence was slapped on two alleged rapists in Ukraine's east through "People's Court" that only generated shock and revulsion among the local communities. At Alchevsk, a city in the Luhansk region, the residents had the primary taste of how "People's Court" works. The area is under the control of separatist "Prizrak" battalion. It is now doing the policing and conducts own investigation into crimes. The battalion recently invited locals to condemn the suspects and render them the deserved punishment.

Throwing more light on the process, a separatist, speaking on the phone from Alchevsk, told the BBC reporter that he was proud of the trial. The rebel said, he wanted "criminals and scumbags to be erased from the face of the Earth," reports BBC.

Referring to the rapists, he said, "I've met their victims. They are devastated. We live under emergency laws and there is a lot of crime. But we have no proper courts at the moment, so our people create 'people's justice.'" But that notion of "justice" was contradicted by Tanay Cholkhanov, a local journalist, who was sympathetic to the rebels. He attended the so-called trial and said it was a "complete farce." "The fact is that most people who were there did not understand what was happening. It was tragic also," he said.

Mother's Woes

In the people's court, a man was sentenced to death for rape. His wailing mother had to be restrained after the sentence was passed. A video of the trial was also posted online. There were only 340 people present at the trial in a town whose population is more than 100,000. The video showed battalion commander Alexei Mozgovoi issuing a warning to all residents.

The commander says, "Too many women go to restaurants and what kind of model they show to their children? From now on, we will arrest all women if we find them in restaurants and cafes." It evoked incredulous gasps from the audience. RFERL reported the diktat of another commander to women. Aleksandr Mozgovoi, dressed in black beret and military fatigue, thundered, "You women, don't go to bars and clubs. Just sit at home and embroider."

Bizarre Justice

The video of the trial showed how suspects were declared guilty on the basis of "evidence" presented by the battalion's investigators. One person was barely spared from death penalty, but he was condemned to be sent to the front line, to "redeem himself and die with honour." All the harsh sentencing was done on the basis of show of hands. Another rapist was condemned to death at the hands of a firing squad, despite the heart-breaking pleas of his mother who was there in the audience. But the commanders were unmoved. The mother continued pleading with the crowd "You good people, please spare him," and she sobbed. "Blame me, I am the one to blame!"