Fri Feb 28, 2014 at 04:07 AM PST

Sych a liberation hero

The Kyiv Post has published a rundown of the initial appointments to the new government of Ukraine. My sources had been very insistent that the great “revolution” was deeply penetrated by well-organized far-right parties, in particular Svoboda and the Pravy Sektor. While the fairly large center-right party of former boxer Vladimir Klitschko has chosen not to join the new government of Yulia Tymoshenko, Svoboda has stepped up taking several cabinet positions. Here’s an introduction to their new Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Oleksandr Sych.

Here’s the Kyiv Post on Sych:

“Oleksandr Sych, 49, was appointed deputy prime minister. This Svoboda Party member from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast had a swift rise since his party made it to parliament. He has made some highly controversial moves in parliament since his election.

One of his legal initiatives was an attempt to ban all abortions, even forpregnancies that occurred during rape, an idea that caused a massive outcry among human rights groups. He also famously recommended women to “lead the kind of lifestyle to avoid the risk of rape, including one from drinking alcohol and being in controversial company.””

When a war is going on, the thing that is most easily sidelined is the rights of the marginalised. The provisional Ukrainian government includes figures who have been openly sexist, such as the deputy prime minister, Oleksandr Sych, of the far-right Svoboda party. If these people retain power after the general election on 25 May, the already difficult position of Ukrainian women is likely to get worse.