Alexander Radchenko an ethnic Ukrainian

Ukrainians

Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

, is a politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 activist in Transnistria

Transnistria

Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...

. A former Soviet military officer, he is today the editor of a small opposition newspaper in Tiraspol

Tiraspol

Tiraspol is the second largest city in Moldova and is the capital and administrative centre of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic . The city is located on the eastern bank of the Dniester River...

 called Man and His Rights. Most of his articles deal with human rights issues.

In 1994 Radchenko founded the now-defunct political party Power to the People

Power to the People (political party)

Power to the People is a political party in Transnistria.At the 10 December 2000 legislative elections the party won 1 out of 43 seats. At the 11 December 2005 elections the party supported independent candidates who are today allied with the party Renewal....

 (Vlast Narodu). During the February 2001 elections to the Republic of Moldova Parliament his party advocated participation of Transnistrians at those elections and campaigned for the Moldova Communist Party. He was accused by the Transnistrian Minister of Justice of crimes against the state as he was advocating the restoration of Moldova's territorial integrity and, therefore, the liquidation of the separate Transnistrian state. His party was twice banned for short periods.

Alexander Radchenko participated in the 9 December 2001 Transnistrian presidential election

Transnistrian presidential election, 2001

Presidential elections were held in the breakaway republic of Transnistria on 9 December, 2001. They were won by the incumbent Igor Smirnov, who has ruled Transnistria since 1991. The other candidates were Tom Zenovich, mayor of Bender , and Alexander Radchenko of the Power to the People party,...

, running against the incumbent Igor Smirnov

Igor Smirnov

Igor Nikolaevich Smirnov , is the President of the internationally unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic, also known as Transnistria. He has held this post since 1990.- Childhood :...

 and Tom Zenovich

Tom Zenovich

Tom Zenovich is a politician and former presidential candidate from Transnistria, a break-away region of Moldova. Prior to his presidential run in 2001 he was mayor of Bender, Transnistria's second largest city....

. Of the three candidates, he came last with just under five percent of the votes.

Between 2000 and 2005 he was a member of parliament

Transnistrian Supreme Soviet

The Supreme Council of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic is the parliament of Transnistria. The unicameral legislature consists of 43 seats, all of which are determined by single mandate constituencies...

 but he failed to win re-election on 11 December 2005.

In January 2007 Radchenko founded the Social Democratic Party of Pridnestrovie, the only political party in Transnistria which is in favor of conditional unification with Moldova.