Ukrainian Courts against Labor Party Leader A. Bondarchuk, and European Standards

PSPU Press Service statement

On April 9, 2015 the Darnytsky District Court in the City of Kiev began a preliminary hearing on charges brought against People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the 3rd and 4th convocations, leader of the opposition Ukrainian Labor Party Alexander Vasilyevich Bondarchuk.

Alexander Bondarchuk is charged under Article 110, Section 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, “Infringement of the Territorial Integrity of Ukraine.” The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has applied this article because of two articles concerning the authorities possessed by Southeast Ukraine, published in the newspaper Rabochy Klass (Working Class), of which A. Bondarchuk is editor-in-chief. The accusation is constructed on expert analysis done by the SBU, concluding that the articles contained indirect infringement on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

A. Bondarchuk has new defense lawyers, in the trial. The first motion they announced sought to release the political leader from the cage in which the accused sits. The court went into conference and, upon returning to the courtroom, announced a recess in the session until April 17, 2015. A. Bondarchuk told journalists that his rights to defense during preparation for trial have been grossly violated. For more than a week, his government lawyer failed to visit him. Newspapers have been withheld from him. He was notified of the April 9 court session at 23:15 on April 8.

A. Bondarchuk and his attorneys believe that the chief motive for the criminal prosecution of him is political.