Telychenko report

The Solicitors International Human Rights Group hosted a prominent Ukrainian lawyer Valentyna Telychenko from 15^th June to 19^th June 2012 in London. The visit was organised in collaboration with the Dutch NGO Lawyers for Lawyers and with the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers.

Though the trip started on a wrong footing as our distinguished guest was initially denied a visa by the UK Border Agency in Kiev, after a considerable amount of faxes and emails from hosting NGOs and friends the decision was revised and she was issued a multiple entry visa for 19 days.

Ms Valentyna Telychenko is well-known as the defence lawyer of Myroslava Gongadze in the murder case of her husband, journalist Georgiy Gongadze. Recently, Ms. Telychenko has taken on the cases of Yuriy Lutsenko (former Minister of Interior), Mr Ivashchenko (former acting Minister of Defence) and Yulia Tymoshenko (Ukraine's former Prime-Minister) in the European Court of Human Rights.

In addition to her legal practice, Ms. Telychenko has extensive experience in human rights campaigns and public activity ranging from membership of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) during the perestroika of the 1980s, to participation in the updating of election legislation. She has written numerous analytical reports on judicial reform, human rights and the rule of law in Ukraine.

During her stay in London Ms Telychenko had numerous meetings, amongst those were a meeting at the House of Commons with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights, representatives of the National Union of Journalists, Amnesty International; interview with the Human Rights and Social Justice Research Institute of the London Metropolitan University on Democratic Legitimacy in Human Rights Implementation: the role of Parliaments in the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights; various legal professionals and committee members of the Solicitors International Human Rights Group.

The visit to London culminated in a very well attended public lecture by Ms Telychenko on “The Truth About the Rule of Law, Democracy and Human Rights in Ukraine: Recent Cases – What Can We Learn From Them?” that took place on June 19 at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Lecture Theatre. The lecture was followed by a 45 minutes Questions and Answers session. The topics discussed included: democracy in Ukraine, prison conditions, specific cases where Ms Telychenko represents her clients in the European Court of Human Rights, rule of law and corruption.

The evening ended in attendees of the lecture watching the football match England vs Ukraine, where the guests had more opportunity to speak to Ms Telychenko in an informal atmosphere and ask even more questions.

On 20^th June 2012 Ms Telychenko left for Amsterdam where Lawyers for Lawyers organised meetings with MEPs, Dutch parliamentarians and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in den Haag as well as representatives of legal profession, lawyers and judges and various NGOs in Amsterdam.

Ms Telychenko gave interviews to journalists in Amsterdam and an article appeared in the daily newspaper on the next day after her arrival.

The most frequently asked questions in all the meetings:

1. What is the state of health of Ms Tymoshenko (former Prime Minister of Ukraine) imprisoned in the east of Ukraine? The answer from Ms Telychenko was that Ms Tymoshenko’s health was stable and the major concern should be the procedural violations and the legal uncertainty of the charges brought against Ms Tymoshenko and other former Government Ministers. All cases are clear cases of politically motivated charges and the Prosecution did not provide any evidence to substantiate the charges.

2. How people in the West can help to improve the situation in Ukraine and in particular what assistance we can provide with the cases?

First of all by understanding the truth and facts: Ms Telychenko urged the West to understand that Ms Tymoshenko was not the only one who was charged and sentenced. She also requested objective trial monitoring by EU representatives to include not only politicians but legal professionals because the problem is in legal aspects of the case and legal violations. Ms Telychenko stressed that sustained pressure on the Ukrainian Government should carry on even after the end of the Euro 2012 held in Ukraine.

Various methods of assistance from colleagues in Europe may also include training courses and seminars for lawyers in Ukraine.

The public lecture given by Ms Telychenko in London is available on SIHRG’s website.

Ms Telychenko’s visit was the second visit organised by SIHRG for lawyers from Eastern Europe. In November 2011 SIHRG and Lawyers for Lawyers hosted two Belarusian lawyers: Aleh Volchak and Harry Paganiaila.

Sasha Zernova 28^th June 2012.

SIHRG Education Officer who hosted Ms Telychenko throughout her London and Amsterdam visits.