“Criminals” and “traitors”: who the state suspects and how it punishes collaborationism

Press center UCMC announce

Attention! In case of an air alert, visitors of the event can use the shelter located in the basement of the Ukrainian House (Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ukrainian House, 1st floor. 2 Khreshchatyk street, Kyiv 01001)

On July 30, 2024, at 11:00, the Ukrainian Crisis Media Centre (Kyiv, Khreshchatyk Street, 2) will host a press conference “‘Criminals’ and ‘traitors’: who the state suspects and how it punishes collaborationism”, during this event Human Rights Centre ZMINA will present the relevant report

After the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine sought to prevent citizens from collaborating with the enemy, so in March 2022, the parliament added Articles 111-1 (“Collaborative activity”) and 111-2 (“Aiding the aggressor state”) to the Criminal Code. Despite the importance of these articles, practice shows that they have shortcomings that affect the effectiveness of punishment for collaboration with the enemy. 

Human Rights Centre ZMINA analysed how the state prosecutes collaborators and what initiatives are being taken to improve legislation. In addition, analysts studied the opinions of residents of de-occupied and still occupied communities about who should be considered a collaborator and how the state’s practice of punishment meets their expectations. 

In addition, the researchers studied how the Ukrainian media and state authorities write about collaborators and suspected collaborators and whether they respect the presumption of innocence.

The press conference will be broadcast online on the Facebook pages of ZMINA and UCMC, as well as on UCMC’s YouTube channels  in Ukrainian and English.

To participate in the event, please register here.

Contact person: Iryna Ivanchenko, 0997725667, [email protected]

This event is supported by the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by aid from the governments of Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.