Amsterdam writes letters to Ukrainian judges in defense of UOJ journalists

UOJ journalists are in pre-trial detention without the right to bail. Photo: UOJ

American human rights activist Robert Amsterdam has written letters to the Kyiv Solomiansky Court expressing his support for the arrested journalists of the UOJ.

Robert Amsterdam noted that as part of his legal practice in defending the rights and interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, he regularly reads the internet resource "Union of Orthodox Journalists".

Amsterdam reminded that his legal work is related to studying the legal aspects of the UOC's activities and factors influencing it.

"Mainly, this concerns the relationship between the Church and the state of Ukraine regarding the observance of the constitutional rights and freedoms of UOC believers," wrote the lawyer.

According to him, he fully trusts the UOJ "for their objective and comprehensive coverage of events and for their high standards of journalistic ethics."

He stated that "the UOJ does not allow in its publications any justification of Russian aggression, any attacks against Ukraine or its Armed Forces, incitement of religious or national enmity, or any other unlawful actions."

"All news or analytical reports on the UOJ website are factually supported and repeatedly verified in accordance with the norms of journalistic ethics," the lawyer stressed.

He is confident that the publications on the UOJ website "do not exceed the boundaries of Ukrainian legislation regulating the right to freedom of speech."

Robert Amsterdam also provided a character reference of each of the UOJ employees detained in pretrial detention.

He said that Andriy Ovcharenko, due to the fact that the UOJ did not publish materials testifying to the charges against him, "cannot be considered guilty of committing the crimes attributed to him based on his work as an employee of the UOJ."

Amsterdam also wrote that "Volodymyr Bobechko is known to his colleagues as a passionate patriot of Ukraine, a deeply devout person, and a highly qualified journalist."

"His civic position and moral principles allow me to assert that, engaging in rewriting at the UOJ resourse, he never wrote anything in favor of the Russian Federation and the Moscow Patriarchate, and after the start of the war, he did not change his civic position," Amsterdam said.

He also believes that Valeriy Stupnitsky "is a patriotically minded person, unequivocally condemning Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and criticizing the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on this issue."

"In none of the materials published on the UOJ website, including those authored by V. Stupnitsky, is there any information that could be interpreted as anti-Ukrainian, justifying war, or inciting internal discord in Ukrainian society," emphasized Amsterdam.

He also reminded Ukrainian judges that "every person in a democratic legal society, as Ukraine positions itself, has the right to freedom of speech, religion, and a fair trial as provided for in the Constitution."

In light of the above, Robert Amsterdam believes that "the risks indicated in Article 177 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine for V. Bobechko, V. Stupnitsky, and A. Ovcharenko, namely: avoiding pre-trial investigation and court, destroying or hiding evidence, illegally influencing the victim, witness, another suspect, accused, expert, specialist in the same criminal proceedings, obstructing criminal proceedings, committing another criminal offense, or continuing the criminal offense in which they are suspected, are completely absent."

Earlier, the UOJ wrote that a former member of the Polish parliament spoke up in defense of the UOJ journalists.

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