Robert Amsterdam becomes a defendant in criminal cases in Ukraine for defending the UOC

The head of the international human rights company Amsterdam & Partners LLP, Robert Amsterdam, who represents the legal interests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, has become a defendant in a number of criminal cases in Ukraine for defending the UOC. The lawyer is accused of collaborating with former MP Vadim Novinsky and “destabilizing the religious situation” in Ukraine. This is reported by Glavkom.

According to the investigation, “in order to destabilize the socio-political processes in Ukraine during the military aggression of the Russian Federation, in February 2024, following the instructions of Vadim Novinsky, PERSON_4 (presumably, this is one of Novinsky’s associates – Ed. ), using a resource under his control, ensured the stay and activity in Kyiv of a lobbyist in matters of protection of the UOC-MP, a resident of the United States, organized meetings in Kyiv with a Russian citizen to discuss issues of protecting the interests of the Russian church in Ukraine and ways to counteract the adoption of draft law No. 83737 “On the prohibition of activities of religious organizations associated with the Russian Federation in Ukraine.” Kyiv with a citizen of the Russian Federation to discuss issues of protecting the interests of the Russian church in Ukraine, ways to counteract the adoption of draft law No. 8371 “On the prohibition of activities of religious organizations associated with the Russian Federation in Ukraine, as well as the involvement of domestic and foreign media and media persons in such activities to assist the information policy of the aggressor state to discredit Ukraine before international partners.”

Earlier, in an interview with Tucker Carlson, Robert Amsterdam 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.