As part of this initiative, during the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council — in the presence of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, President of the UN Human Rights Council Jürg Lauber, diplomats of UN member states, and representatives of international organizations — journalist Dmytro Skvortsov gave a testimony as a witness to the situation in Ukraine. He faces criminal charges in Ukraine for his journalistic activities. (A link to the video of his speech is provided at the end of this publication.)

The journalist informed UN representatives that he had spent nearly two years in a Ukrainian prison and is still on trial for publishing articles. He emphasized that his work was in line with standard journalistic practices in previous years and complies with international standards on freedom of speech and legitimate criticism of government officials.

The human rights analysis of criminal cases in Ukraine will focus on the justification of charges brought under the following articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code: Article 111 ("High Treason"), Article 161 ("Violation of Citizens' Equality"), and Article 436-2 ("Justification or Denial of the Armed Aggression of the Russian Federation").

This initiative arises from international concerns over the broad and vague interpretation of criminal law terms by Ukrainian law enforcement, such as "subversive activity," "incitement of religious hatred," and "glorification of participants," which have led to controversial charges against individuals for expressions that fall within the legal and professional scope of journalists, lawyers, and clergy — or are simply ordinary expressions of belief or opinion. It is worth noting that, according to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (CASE OF THE SUNDAY TIMES v. THE UNITED KINGDOM, application no. 6538/74):

"49. ...a norm cannot be regarded as ‘law’ unless it is formulated with sufficient precision to enable the citizen to regulate his conduct... he must be able to foresee, to a degree that is reasonable in the circumstances, the consequences which a given action may entail."

Therefore, when criminalizing specific types of rhetoric, the Ukrainian state was obligated to draft criminal laws in such a way that the potentially unlawful nature of certain actions would be understandable to ordinary people.

In other words, many of those charged under the articles mentioned above likely could not foresee that expressing their beliefs, engaging in free speech, or reposting articles on social media might lead to criminal prosecution — since terms such as "subversive activity" were not clear enough for them to interpret as criminal in the sense assigned by prosecutors.

Furthermore, many of these cases present clear contradictions between the internationally protected right to freedom of expression, belief, and religious opinion — and the criminal charges being brought. In certain circumstances, Ukraine’s criminal laws may be found to run foul of international legal standards, which could lead to the review of verdicts rendered in Ukraine and the payment of financial compensation to wrongfully convicted individuals.

Additionally, there are instances showing a lack of legal coherence and logic between the content of verdicts — which end up with severe punishments — and the criminal code provisions that define what constitutes a crime.

For example, in the case of Father Yevhen Koshelnyk, a clergyman of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who has already been sentenced to five years in prison, the court’s verdict stated that, "despite the actions of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, […] he continued to conduct services in Church Slavonic and commemorate the 'Moscow Patriarch' during prayers." However, conducting religious services in Church Slavonic, as well as prayerful commemoration, are not crimes under Ukrainian law.

Similarly, in the indictment against attorney Svitlana Novytska, who is currently held in a penal facility in Lviv, quotes from her public statements at the OSCE were included. However, due to the OSCE’s high political status and pre-publication content review procedures, the organization cannot be considered complicit in spreading criminal rhetoric.

Through international legal mechanisms, human rights attorneys and advocacy groups will seek to correct unlawful practices in Ukraine’s judicial and investigative systems to prevent the issuance of unjust verdicts against innocent individuals.

At the initial stage, human rights lawyers involved in the initiative will examine the criminal charges brought against the following individuals: Metropolitan Feodosiy (Snihiriov) of Cherkasy and Kaniv; Metropolitan Longin (Zhar) of Bancheny; Metropolitan Pavlo (Lebid), abbot of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra; Metropolitan Arseniy (Yakovenko), abbot of the Sviatohirsk Lavra; Priest Yevhen Koshelnyk; journalist Dmytro Skvortsov; and attorney Svitlana Novytska.

As previously reported, during the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Metropolitan Feodosiy (Snihiriov) of Cherkasy and Kaniv — a member of the human rights alliance “Church Against Xenophobia and Discrimination” — delivered a speech at the invitation of the human rights organization Public Advocacy.

A donation link to support legal defense efforts within the framework of this initiative is available on the website of the Church Against Xenophobia and Discrimination Alliance. The success of this defense effort also depends on your support.

Photos used in this publication:

Cover photo 1: UN Human Rights Council chamber in Geneva

Photo 2: Journalist Dmytro Skvortsov in the defendant’s box in a courtroom

Photo 3: The arrest of Svitlana Novytska

Link to the video of journalist Dmytro Skvortsov’s speech at the UN: