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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Miller Masa Nyayema has taken up the defense of activist from Lutsk Dmytryshyn after his detention on Teremky
The law firm Miller, founded by lawyer Masi Nayem, has taken up the defense of veteran and activist Liubomyr Dmytryshyn, who was detained after a protest against laying a heat pipeline in Teremky. The firm states that there were serious violations during the detention and search, in particular the use of physical force without cause and the seizure of equipment unrelated to the case. Attorneys have already filed a petition with the court to review the legality of the detention.
Reported by "Informator."
The firm said the search of Dmytryshyn occurred within a criminal proceeding opened after protests in Teremky. According to Miller's lawyers, the activist was detained without explanation of the grounds, and during the search physical force was used without any reason.
The team noted that an immediate explanation of the reasons for detention is a legal requirement, not a formality.
"Part 4 of Article 208 of the Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine obliges law enforcement officers to immediately explain to the detained person why they were detained and in what criminal offense they are suspected," says the Miller firm in a statement.
Detention after protest
The firm added that in the actions of certain police officers there may be signs of a crime under Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and they stated that they are initiating a separate criminal proceeding to verify the circumstances of inflicting bodily injuries on their client.
In addition, the lawyers claim a number of procedural violations during the search itself. Among them:
investigators and operatives did not show documents confirming their authority to conduct the search;
the search warrant contained errors in the veteran's address and surname;
video recording of the search was not provided continuously;
the rights and procedures for conducting the search were explained only after it had ended;
the activist's wife had her phone and laptop seized, even though she offered to immediately copy the information needed by the investigation and she had nothing to do with the protests.
The firm emphasized that they regard the aggregate of these actions as pressure on participants in the protest, not just separate procedural lapses.
"Participation in a protest does not exempt a person from responsibility for possible wrongdoing. But criminal proceedings also do not give the state the right to lower the standard of protecting their rights," says the Miller law firm in its statement.
Miller has repeatedly participated in high-profile cases involving public figures and civic activists. In particular, the firm's lawyers represented former deputy head of the President's Office Iryna Mudra in the high-profile Forrest Gump case — about a criminal organization led by current and former members of parliament. The defendants in the case are accused of laundering 150 million hryvnias in collateral for the former energy minister Herman Halushchenko. The Miller law firm undertook the defense of Iryna Mudra, who was informed by NABU and SAP about suspicion within the Forrest Gump operation, after which the founder of the firm, lawyer Masi Nayem, announced his withdrawal from the Supervisory Board of the Serhiy Sternenko Foundation.
Among other clients of the firm is the former head of the Ukrainian Association of Football Andriy Pavelko, whom in 2023 year Miller claimed to provide legal protection to ensure competitiveness and the rule of law. Lawyers of the firm also, on a pro bono basis, supported the interests of civic activist Serhiy Sternenko and participated in monitoring the investigation into the attack on activist Kateryna Handzyk.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Miller Масі Найєма взялася захищати активіста з Луцька Дмитришина після затримання на Теремках". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: ANTIKOR.
