To the President of the Radical Party

On the newspaper "Komsomolskaja Pravda" of 6 September 1991 I read an article against the death penalty and the appeal to the President of the U.S.S.R. and to the Presidents of the Republics. This appeal was signed by eminent personalities, parliamentarians and politicians from different countries of the world and of the sovereign States of the Union.

I am writing to you in the hope to convey all my grief and sufferance. On 6 September my eldest son committed a crime, under the influence of a younger but more shrewd man. He was barely 18 at the time. For this murder, on 3 June 1991 the Court of Doneck sentenced my son MAKOVECKIJ OLEG NIKOLAJEVICH, born in 1972, to the death penalty. The Supreme Court of Ukraine rejected the petition for mercy of the lawyer, of my son and mine, and confirmed the punishment: execution by shooting. As I write this terrible word, my entire soul is torn by grief and sufferance.

As a mother, I know my son has caused much harm to the family of the victims, and that their grief is endless. I feel much pity for them, and in my prayers I ask forgiveness to God.

This is the second year my son spends in prison. My grief is all the greater because my younger son asks me whether Oleg's life will be spared. What can I answer? And we weep together...

My son and I have written a petition for mercy to the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine, we sent the petition for mercy to the President, Mr. Kravchuk. We pray God that our words will be correctly understood, we hope and wait.

I would like to describe the situation which lead Oleg to commit the murder. My husband became an alcoholic in 1983. He underwent treatment in 1988, but after a few days he started drinking again. He created much scandal in our home, he used to batter me, at times even hitting me in the head. All this occurred under the eyes of our children. He entertained women at home, turning out Oleg. He sold all the things we had at home. I didn't leave him because I had no other home. At last I had the chance to move, but I needed 3,000 rubles and asked for a loan. At the end of June 1990, we moved to the one-room apartment where the three of us would live. In April 1990 I made the mistake of letting Oleg quit his job and rest for a period before starting his military service. However he was not called up in Spring.

Oleg drank no alcohol, and he felt ashamed for his father. He was always courteous with me, with his brother and with the neighbours. He used to help me a great deal. I was operated twice, and he took care of the household. And then that terrible 6 September...Perhaps our material situation lead him to commit the crime. He committed the mistake under the bad influence of a friend, and has since repented.

Oleg's father is responsible for his son's crime, but God punished him because he died of cancer. Oleg has started to believe in God, and he may become a good man.

We have lived a dire life. I could not survive the death of my eldest son, whom I love dearly, and I am afraid of leaving the younger son an orphan. Our family has never had anything but fear, evil and material need.

I beg you to write to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine, asking mercy for my son.