We shall remind you that earlier we reported that the Committee on Humanitarian Policy under the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine had a real commotion in connection with the activities of the head of the international human rights company “Amsterdam & Partners LLP” Robert Amsterdam, representing the legal interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The committee members claim that the human rights defender is exerting pressure on MPs to disrupt the vote for the bill No. 8371 aimed at banning the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
“The Council demanded that the US government investigate me” - UOC lawyer Amsterdam
In an interview with Tucker Carlson, the head of the international human rights company Amsterdam & Partners LLP, Robert Amsterdam, who represents the legal interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, spoke about how Ukraine demanded that the US government open an investigation into him for defending the UOC. The human rights activist recalled how he paid a visit to Ukraine, after which he faced significant opposition from the Ukrainian authorities. Currently, according to Amsterdam, he cannot visit his clients, as a criminal investigation has been launched against him in Ukraine. The interview was published on Tucker Carlson’s YouTube channel.
“Today I am under criminal prosecution in Ukraine. What even Putin did not do to me, Zelensky is doing today. And all because I defend the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In Putin’s case, I defended his political opponents. But in the case of Zelensky, I am defending the church, and they have opened a criminal case against me,” the lawyer said.
Amsterdam added that after his visit to Ukraine and his demand that the Verkhovna Rada refuse to adopt the law banning the UOC, an information and political campaign was initiated against him, demanding that the US government open an investigation against him.
“After all the things that The Washington Post published about me, and in light of the way Zelensky demanded that the Democrats fulfill his demands, I was in doubt about whether to go home. I mean, the Ukrainians had such influence in Washington that the Ukrainian Rada demanded that the US government investigate me because I wrote an open letter to the Rada in which I said that every member of the Rada would face personal sanctions if the law on the destruction of the Church was passed. This was completely within my right as an American citizen to inform a foreign legislator who is essentially engaged in illegal activities that they need to return to respecting religious freedoms. And it was on this basis that Ukrainians begged our authorities to join in (in putting pressure on Amsterdam — ed.),” — the human rights activist added.
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