Ukrainian police seized documents from PLWH Network office
The Ukrainian police seized documents from the organizations "Patients of Ukraine" and All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH. NGOs are suspected of grant fraud and cooperation with separatists. Philanthropists claim revenge for anti-corruption activities, Deutsche Welle reports.
The police accused NGOs in misappropriating funds of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and using them to support the separatists.
Olga Stefanishina, the Executive Director of the Patients of Ukraine Foundation, called the raids "pressure on patient's anti-corruption organizations". "It's strange when the organization that supports us does not see any violations, but the police does," she said.
The head of the All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH Dmitry Sherembey explains the raid by the NGO's anti-corruption activities. "We compel the pharmaceutical companies not to treat Ukraine as a wild market, we go to court and prove that patents are outdated, and the drug price is overstated."