President Volodymyr Zelensky, Office of the President of Ukraine, 11 Bankova St., Kyiv, 01220, Ukraine
Cc: Ministry of Justice of Ukraine; Pervomaisk City
and District Court, Mykolaiv; Ukrainian Embassy, United Kingdom
Subject: Protest against the 15-year sentence of Bogdan
Syrotiuk and demand for his immediate release
Dear President Zelensky,
I am writing to protest, in the strongest possible terms,
the August 10, 2026 verdict of the Pervomaisk City and District Court
sentencing Bogdan Syrotiuk to fifteen years’ imprisonment on charges of “high
treason” under martial law.
The prosecution’s case rested entirely on Mr Syrotiuk’s
political writings — articles published on the World Socialist Web Site and his
correspondence with its editors — as well as his role as a leader of the Young
Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, a small Trotskyist youth organisation. A 65-page
linguistic analysis prepared by Yuri Irkhin, one of Ukraine’s leading
criminologists, examined these materials and found no language supporting
Russian aggression against Ukraine. The court has not addressed or refuted this
finding. Indeed, the articles cited in the verdict explicitly oppose both the
Russian invasion and the policies of the Putin government.
Whatever one’s view of Mr Syrotiuk’s political positions,
the prosecution and conviction of an individual for writing and publishing
political commentary is incompatible with fundamental standards of freedom of
expression. Ukraine is bound to uphold these standards under its own
Constitution and under the European Convention on Human Rights. The European
Court of Human Rights has already accepted Mr Syrotiuk’s case for review,
underscoring the seriousness of the violations involved.
I am further alarmed by credible reports that Mr Syrotiuk
has been denied adequate medical care during his detention, despite repeated
assurances from the prison administration. A fifteen-year sentence under the
documented conditions of Ukraine’s penitentiary system poses a grave and
immediate threat to his health and life.
I therefore call on the Ukrainian authorities to:
- Overturn
the verdict against Bogdan Syrotiuk and order his immediate release;
- Ensure
he receives all necessary medical treatment without further delay;
- End
the prosecution of individuals for the peaceful expression of political
views, in accordance with Ukraine’s international human rights
obligations.
