Fw: Trained By The West's Best , Ukraine's Pora Thugs 'Take Kiev Military-Style'

[Andrej Tisma]

FORWARDED TEXT:

Reuters
November 29, 2004


Ukraine's youth take city centre military-style
By Elizabeth Piper


-Using experience gleaned from bloodless revolutions
in Czechoslovakia, Serbia and Georgia, the
demonstrators stuck to the rule book and plans drafted
before the campaign.
-The Pora activists stand out. In a mass of orange -
the colour of Yushchenko's campaign, they wear black
scarves with yellow clockfaces on them. Mostly men in
their early 20s or late teens, they jump to orders and
quickly get into formation.



KIEV  - Ukraine's young democracy activists [sic] had
worked out a military-style operation to take over the
heart of Kiev long before the opposition accused the
authorities of stealing last week's presidential
election.

Activists from democracy group Pora - "It's time" -
formed the core of the occupation, jumping to orders
from their "commander" to claim territory with a
sprawling tent camp along the city's main thoroughfare
and blockades at government buildings.

Using experience gleaned from bloodless revolutions in
Czechoslovakia, Serbia and Georgia, the demonstrators
stuck to the rule book and plans drafted before the
campaign.
....
"We were ready, everything was set up. We knew what we
had to do."
....

MILITARY-STYLE

The tents were stored on trucks in a quiet part of
town at least two weeks before the election and
brought in quickly the day after the poll - when it
was clear Yushchenko had lost the official count. Also
brought were sleeping bags, pillows and thick
polysterene mats to cover the freezing tarmac.

"On the first night only a few of us were here. It was
scary because we did think we could be forced out of
here by the authorities. We were on our guard," Yuri
Balokha, a cargo manager-turned-tent camp guard, said.

Organisation is efficient, the kitchen area cordoned
off to house an open fire and grill to barbecue meat.
The medical tent hands out cold remedies and vitamin
C. A registration tent keeps track of newcomers.

All tents are numbered, all jobs handed out in shifts.

....
"We have a commander who decides what everyone does,
what roles to take, what needs to be done," Sasha
said.

Everyone gets a badge with his role printed over a
background of the "Yushchenko Yes!" campaign slogan.
Passes give activists access to different protest
sites.

On Sunday only, trained Pora protesters were given
passes to get to the front of a blockade at the
president's office amid fears of a crackdown. Two
lines were formed and people linked arms as activists
barked into walkie-talkies to headquarters.

The Pora activists stand out. In a mass of orange -
the colour of Yushchenko's campaign, they wear black
scarves with yellow clockfaces on them. Mostly men in
their early 20s or late teens, they jump to orders and
quickly get into formation.
....
Helped by various organisations, including the
U.S.-backed Freedom of Choice, Pora operates cells
around the country, extending even into Yanukovich's
heartland in the east.
....