Earlier this month, the Foreign Press Association hosted a briefing with first Ukrainian Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2022) lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk, a human rights defender who works on issues in Ukraine and the OSCE region. At present she heads the human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties, and also coordinates the work of the initiative group Euromaidan SOS. The activities of the Center for Civil Liberties are aimed at protecting human rights and establishing democracy in Ukraine and the OSCE region.
The briefing took place at the Royal Overseas League in central London.
Oleksandra is one of the most powerful voices of the Ukrainian Resistance since the start of the Russian invasion. She said that she had devoted her life to protect Democracy, Civil Liberties, Human Rights and documents of Russia’s war crimes against civilians. By documenting Russia’s atrocities, she is proof that women are not just victims of war, they can also be agents of peace and justice.
After her dramatic and emotional briefing, she answered questions from journalists from different countries. Doros Partasides firstly congratulated Oleksandra for her courage and strength and then took the opportunity to ask her a couple of questions – whether she has faced death threats and what support is she expecting from the International Press.
Modestly, she explained that although the danger for her life is there, “we have to continue fighting for our country for Democracy, for Human-Rights, for Freedom. We are fighting for all of you, tyranny of Putin must not win. Please report the truth, keep the Russian aggression in the media of your country, Ukrainians need your support.”