Political Persecution in Ukraine in 2010-2011:

A roundtable entitled Political Persecution in Ukraine in 2010-2011: Legal Assessment and Prosecutions for Defence will take place in Kyiv on Friday, 27 May.  It is organizations by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union and the Kharkiv Human Rights Group.

It will discuss:

criminal and administrative prosecution of former officials, civic actvists and members of various protests;

the legal assessment of such actions by the authorities;

improving communication between different civic groups and those involved in the legal professions;

the prospects for providing legal assistance to the victims of such actions.

The roundtable will be attended by lawyers, bar lawyers, civic activists and people involved in various protests and journalists.

Cases to be considered:

The criminal prosecutions linked with the protests against the Tax Code on Maidan Nezalezhnosti [Independence Square] in Kyiv from 16 November to 3 December and the actions of the Kyiv police in these cases;

Action of the law enforcement bodies over the criminal cases initiated with respect to the decapitation of the bust to Stalin in Zaporizhya on 28 December 2010  and the explosion that destroyed the bust on 31 December.;

Action of the law enforcement bodies over the daubing with paint of the monument to Dzerzhynsky in Zaporizhya;

Action of the law enforcement bodies over the arson attack on the Party of the Regions office in Kyiv on 1 January 2011;

The case of Hanna Synkova (remanded in custody after frying an egg on the Eternal Flame (the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) in Kyiv);

the case of Yury Lutsenko;

other criminal cases against former government officials;

the criminal case over alleged plans to divulge State secrets (against historian Ruslan Zabily);

the criminal cases linked with the events on 9 May 2011 in Lviv.

the administrative proceedings against peaceful demonstrators in Kharkiv from 20 May to 2 June 2010 over the tree-felling in Gorky Park and in Lviv against Verentsov and others;

administrative proceedings and prophylactic measures against small business owners; journalists; bloggers; student activists and others.

 Venue: Large Conference Hall of the Academy of Sciences, 55 Volodymyrska St, 55

Time:   10.00 – 14.00 on 27 May