Ukrainian activist found guilty of high treason in political "show trial"

The fact that the Western world fawns on Zelensky and describes him as a champion of democracy and freedom must be challenged, writes Dr William Briggs.

ON THE 10TH AUGUST, a Ukrainian court sentenced a young socialist to 15 years for ‘high treason.’

He has already been held for two years. His legal team are appealing the sentence and is seeking support from around the world to both protest the sentence and to raise the issues of what was a "show trial."

Bogdan Syrotiuk was found guilty of treason and yet the evidence presented in this "trial" was clearly political in nature and in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

His "crime" is that he resolutely stands against the war. The Ukrainian prosecutors manipulated this to mean that he was supporting the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This was shown to be a false accusation.

His was not a call for this or that country to prevail, but for a unity of the working people across national boundaries. His position was a principled Marxist position, and for that he is to be locked away for 15 years.

The case against him could not show any act of treason, espionage, sabotage or collaboration with any military force. The Ukrainian state’s case was based on what he had read and what he had written. In the end, the case was built around six articles published on the World Socialist Website.

The "subversive" nature of these six articles included what was described as a 'non-recognition’ of the legitimately elected government. The prosecution also deemed that he had ‘compared’ the present regime with Nazis and fascists. He was also being charged with presenting ‘negative’ assessments of the armed forces and that he had been putting forward a ‘reinterpretation’ of national heroes and historical figures.

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His defence argued that in reality there is no "legitimately elected" leadership. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s term in office ended in May 2024. Elections have been indefinitely suspended and all left-wing parties and remotely progressive organisations have been effectively banned. Martial Law exists and every 90 days this Martial Law period is further extended.

How you can be accused of failing to recognise ‘democratic processes’ when they have been shut down is difficult to ascertain, but the sleight of hand in the Ukrainian justice system managed to do just that.

The issue of comparing the regime with Nazism and fascism was intrinsically linked with the charge of ‘reinterpreting’ the roles of national heroes. This is where the whole trial and the falsification of history that the regime has been engaging in assume a dangerous character and call into question the apparently blind support being given to Zelensky and his government from so many quarters across the world.

The national heroes that Bogdan Syrotiuk has ‘reinterpreted’ specifically relate to the leaders of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Waffen-SS Galicia Division. These were Nazi collaborators and war criminals. Among the very worst of these criminals was Stepan Bandera. The Ukrainian state officially observes the birthday of Stepan Bandera on January 1 as an annual day of recognition and commemoration.

None of that is in any way a secret affair. On the contrary, the Ukrainian government seems happy with such a past. What it is less happy about is a socialist anti-war activist reminding the world of that dark past and equally dark present.

It was only a few months ago that the Polish President Karol Nawrocki revoked Zelensky’s Order of the White Eagle. This is the highest award that Poland can bestow. Zelensky had given a serving Ukrainian army unit an honorary title that incorporated the name of the WWII fascist group, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). The UPA was responsible for the massacres of 100,000 ethnic Poles.

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Then, of course, there is the infamous Azov Brigade. It was, before the war, a neo-Nazi group and was taken into the Ukrainian army. The existence of the fascist Azov Brigade, which has received such "honour" in Ukraine simply attests to the truth that the young Marxist spoke.

At the time of his arrest, in 2024, it was claimed that he was acting as an agent of the Russian government. The absurdity of that claim was there for all to see. The articles he wrote and which formed the basis of the treason case repeatedly denounced the Russian invasion.

He clearly stated his opposition to the Putin regime. What he was saying and this needs to be remembered, was that he was seeking a cross-border opposition to both regimes and against the war, as it is the working people of both countries who suffer the most.

The Ukrainian court, referred to ‘socially dangerous consequences’ of the positions that the defendant held. From the perspective of the Ukrainian state this might make sense, but to call for an end to a war that was and is clearly not serving the interests of the people of either country is hardly a ‘dangerous’ concept.

Yuri Irkhin, a leading Ukrainian criminologist, in a report, found:

'No statements, phrases, sentences, or word combinations that have signs of propaganda aimed at supporting the armed aggression of the Russian Federation.’

In response, the court ordered a new examination of the ‘evidence’ but still found no calls for the overthrow of the state, the seizure of power, subversive acts or the alteration of Ukraine’s borders.

The trial and actions of the Ukrainian state led to an immediate banning of the WSWS website in Ukraine. Syrotiuk’s political documents and materials were destroyed. To add further insult to the process and to show how venal that process has become, he was ordered to pay more than 178,000 hryvnia or $5,600 to cover the cost of the forensic ‘examinations’ used to convict him.

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His is not the only case before the courts. Thousands of "criminal" cases have been opened under ‘treason and collaboration statutes.'

The UN Human Rights Office has reported that it ‘continues to document cases of torture and ill-treatment’ of detainees held by the Ukrainian state. While this has been documented, little coverage is given in our media and virtually none in Syrotiuk’s case.

But then, there is a war in progress and sides have been taken. What passes for media coverage is painted, more and more with the brush of propaganda.

The tens of thousands of deserters who now face gaol sentences for opposing the war receive scant attention.

A 2025 Gallup Poll showed that 69 per cent of Ukrainians support a negotiated end to the war. In 2022, the numbers wanting to fight until victory were in the high sixty per cent range. Truth, however, is the first casualty of war.

The fact that the Western world fawns on Zelensky and describes him as a champion of democracy and freedom must be challenged. The sentence of Bogdan Syrotiuk is a gross injustice.

Supporters of Syrotiuk are still campaigning and an appeal is underway.

Dr William Briggs is a political economist. His special areas of interest lie in political theory and international political economy. He has been, variously, a teacher, journalist and political activist.