"Gerard Kennedy confronted by police in Ukraine"

Yikes... thank goodness for the free and democratic process we have here in Canada. Props to Kennedy for sticking to his guns on this one.

Gerard Kennedy confronted by police in Ukraine
Updated Fri. Sep. 28 2007 2:07 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Gerard Kennedy, a Canadian politician observing the election process in Ukraine, was confronted Friday by police who tried to interfere with the process.

The former Ontario education minister and one-time Liberal leadership hopeful told CTV Newsnet a squadron of police confronted the observers Friday at the election commission in Mariupol, an area of Donetsk.

Kennedy said the police tried to hinder the observers from ensuring that the process was fair leading up to Sunday's parliamentary poll.

"Police came, one carrying weapons into the area, which is not supposed to happen, and then a kind of humorous thing happened where local TV stations came and there was what we considered mock interviews, where the party's regional representatives denounced us one after another in front of the TV cameras," Kennedy said.

Members' passports were taken by police and the group was temporarily stripped of its observer status, Kennedy said, adding that he felt a palpable feeling of hostility from authorities.

"The rest of the day we were followed by eight people in cars and everywhere we went they would interrupt what we were doing," Kennedy said.

He noted that the election process is controlled by the parties involved, not by an independent commission.

Kennedy said the group has already observed major flaws in the voting process.

"There are extra ballots being distributed," said Kennedy.

He said observers felt safe at all times, despite the obvious tension associated with their presence.