(Czech lawyer Čestmír Kubát attacked on 24.7.14 outside the courtroom by Andrey Lozovoy, a Member of the Ukrainian Parliament. This attack was witnessed by members of General Prosecution office, Ministry of Justice and State Registration Office as well as the Police without their intervention.)

At its group meeting today in Brussels, the GUE/NGL group welcomed Čestmír Kubát, a Czech lawyer defending the Communist Party of Ukraine in a trial that seeks to ban the party.

GUE/NGL MEP Kateřina Konečná said: “The European Parliament is overrun by one-sided information from Kiev. To our deep regret there is no single piece of information on the fundamental violation of political rights in Ukraine such as the manipulated proceedings on the banning of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

“The decision of current Ukrainian elites to exclude the Communist Party of Ukraine from participation in the elections means that citizens were denied the right to make a free choice. Democratic European institutions must objectively inform the public about such violations of fundamental human rights in Ukraine.”

The current regime in Ukraine, through the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the State Registration Service of Ukraine, has taken legal action against the Communist Party of Ukraine, which was established on 5 October 1993.

This attempt to ban the Communist Party alleges that its leaders and party members' actions violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, created partisan paramilitary groups, changed the constitutional order by violent means, and caused ethnic hatred.

Cestmir Kubát said: “It is obvious from the evidence put forward by the plaintiffs before the court that they cannot prove the alleged facts. Therefore, the plaintiffs rely on political and media pressure, physical attacks on the legal defence and even criminal prosecution of judges or an unconstitutional raid in the courthouse. There is a fight going on in Ukraine to subordinate the judiciary power to the executive one and the Communist Party is being denied its fundamental human right to a fair trial. On 18 February, the judge excluded himself from the hearing because he could not decide fairly under such circumstances.”

GUE/NGL Press Contacts:
Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
European United Left / Nordic Green Left
European Parliamentary Group
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