The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) in Sri Lanka are holding a public meeting titled, “Free Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk!” in Colombo on Sunday, July 7.
On April 25, Bogdan Syrotiuk was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in frame-up charges of treason. He is a leader of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL), a Trotskyist organisation active in the former Soviet Union, including in Ukraine and Russia.
Currently held in onerous conditions in a high security prison in the city of Nikolaev (Mykolaiv), he faces a life-long prison term, the equivalent of a death sentence, if found guilty of the bogus allegations.
The YGBL is politically affiliated to the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). The Colombo meeting is part of the global campaign being waged by the ICFI to demand Bogdan’s immediate release.
The real reason for Bogdan’s arrest and detention is his principled opposition, as a socialist internationalist, to the capitalist regimes of Zelensky and Putin and the ongoing US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine that has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians and Russians. Bogdan fights for the socialist unity of workers and youth, in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, against the war.
The accusations of treason against Bogdan are based on bogus claims that he is an agent of the Putin regime. The allegations rely on articles and speeches he has written for the World Socialist Web Site, further exposing the fraudulent character of the charges. The consistent and principled political opposition of the WSWS, the YGBL and Bogdan to the Putin regime is well established in these articles.
The frameup and imprisonment of 25-year-old Comrade Bogdan is not just an antidemocratic attack on an individual but on the international working class as a whole.
The ICFI’s campaign for the release of Bogdan is winning broad support from workers, young people, students and artists globally. On June 13, the ICFI held internationally coordinated pickets of Ukrainian embassies and consulates in Istanbul, London, Paris, Berlin, Washington D.C., Toronto, Canberra and Sydney, protesting Bogdan’s arbitrary detention and demanding his immediate release.
We urge students, academics, workers and youth to attend this crucial meeting in Colombo in defense of Bogdan Syrotiuk and join our campaign for his immediate release from prison.
Date: Sunday, July 7, 3 p.m.
Venue: National Library Auditorium
14 Independence Avenue
Colombo 07