November 26, 2012
MEDIA RELEASE
UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS CALLS ON THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
TO DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF OPPOSITION LEADER YURIY LUTSENKO
On November 26, 2012, Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) President Eugene Czolij called on the international community to demand that Ukraine’s authorities release opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko immediately. This call was based on the November 19, 2012 dismissal by a five-member panel of the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber of the request by Ukraine’s authorities to appeal the unanimous judgment rendered by that Court on July 3, 2012 in the case of Lutsenko v. Ukraine.
In that judgment, now final and binding on Ukraine, the Court clearly described the violations committed by Ukraine’s authorities of their legal obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, which was ratified by Ukraine in 1997.
A copy of this letter was sent by UWC President Eugene Czolij to the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.
The UWC is the international coordinating body for Ukrainian communities in the diaspora representing the interests of over 20 million Ukrainians. The UWC has member organizations in 33 countries and ties with Ukrainians in 14 additional countries. Founded in 1967 as a non-profit corporation, the UWC was recognized in 2003 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council as a non-governmental organization (NGO) with special consultative status.
