Andriy Bilous left the position of director — artistic director of the Kyiv Academic Young Theater.
This was reported by the Department of Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration.
They say that Bilous has filed for dismissal by mutual agreement. The corresponding order has already been signed.
"The Department of Culture has repeatedly stated its principled position regarding the inadmissibility of any manifestations of harassment, discrimination, and the commission of offensive or humiliating actions in municipal cultural institutions," the Kyiv City State Administration says.
What is Andriy Bilous accused of?
In late January, one of the students at Karpenko-Kary University Sofia Sapozhnik accused her teacher Andriy Bilous of harassment. She first posted an anonymous video with the accusations on January 21, and a few days later revealed her identity.
According to her, Bilous sent her intimate photos of other female students and asked her to send similar ones, "motivating it by saying that everyone had already done it".
Later, other students of the director began to share similar stories. Actor and university graduate Valeriy Filipenko, who was one of the first to start distributing the video with Sapozhnikʼs story, noted that this had long been known in the "theater bubble", but everyone was silent. He called for the distribution of an anonymous form, which can be filled out by all those affected by Bilousʼs actions.
Karpenko-Kary University reported on January 23 that it had filed a complaint with the police, asking law enforcement officers to “verify the disseminated information and provide it with a legal assessment.” On January 27, it became known that Bilous had been suspended from work at the university.
On February 10, the police announced that they had opened an investigation against Bilous on charges of sexual assault. The same day, the Kyiv City State Administration reported that they would remove him from his position at the Young Theater.
Andriy Bilous himself, in a comment to Radio Liberty, rejected the accusations and emphasized that he was open to all inspections in a lawful manner, but did not agree with the fact that "decisions are made not by the court, but on social networks and at rallies".
Bilousʼs suspension from his position at the university lasted until March 14, after which he returned to his position. Bilous said that the Kyiv City State Administration Department of Culture had no legal grounds for suspending or dismissing him from his position.
- In early May, a petition calling for the dismissal of the artistic director of the Young Theater, published on the Kyiv City Council website, gained the required number of votes.
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