The Dissident reports:
Ukrainian Socialist Sentenced To 15 years In Prison For Criticizing Government And Genocidal Nazi Collaborator Stepan Bandera.
The Real State Of Ukraine’s So Called “Democracy”.
Oh dear.
Turns out that Ukraine is no different from Russia or China (or the USA for that matter) in cracking down on dissent.
But wait - isn't Ukraine a 'democracy' not an 'authoritarian' state run by an imperialist madman?
Syrotiuk, a writer at the World Socialist Website, was recently sentenced by a Ukrainian court to 15 years in prison, on charges of “high treason … under martial law”.
But as the World Socialist Website noted, “the record of the case contains no act of treason—no espionage, no sabotage, no collaboration with any military force. The sole evidence presented against him consisted of his writings, published on the World Socialist Web Site, and his communications with the editors who published them”
Here we go again - veneration for those good ol' Nazi 'heroes'.
Once again puncturing the fake Western media claim that the Ukrainian state does not celebrate Nazis:
- but Zelensky's a Jew!
- those symbols are nothing like Nazi insignia!
- the torchlit parades are just nice people on a family outing!
Not only does it celebrate them, it imprisons those who do not.
Kinda like the Third Reich used to do.
Although to be fair, the Third Reich killed their 'traitors' (e.g. Sophie Scholl).
And he's hardly Lord Haw-Haw (who was hanged by the UK for treason in 1946).
What's next ... tying 'traitors' to lamp posts for public humiliation (a common sight in democracies around the world).
Er no because apparently that's already been done:
So it's hard to disagree with the Dissident's conclusion:
We have been lied to about the nature of the Ukrainian state. We are told by NATO states that it is a Democracy, a propaganda line used to justify fuelling the war to use Ukraine to “weaken Russia”.
In reality, the Ukrainian government is a dictatorship, labeling its own citizens as traitors even for criticizing blood-soaked Nazi collaborators like Stepan Bandera and calling for an end to the proxy war, as Bogdan Syrotiuk did.
Stop the War doesn't agree with this 'democratic' action either:
Bogdan Syrotiuk imprisoned in 2024 for opposing NATO
The headline refers to the fact that Syrotiuk has already been on trial and in prison for 2 years and has only now been sentenced to 15 years as the article below explains:
It remains to be seen if he will actually serve his sentence or pressure brought to bear on Ukraine to halt this nonsense.
Even the EU Court of Human Rights is involved, as it has been in other cases in Ukraine according to this article:
European Court of Human Rights accepts case of imprisoned Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2025/07/23/hvhq-j23.html
So maybe there is hope for democracy in Ukraine?