During a leaflet distribution at the University of São Paulo (USP), Tomas Castanheira, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group (Brazil), spoke in defense of the release of Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk, sentenced to 15 years in prison for his antiwar writings, and called for support in Brazil for the campaign. We are publishing here a video of the speech and an English transcript.

I am Tomas Castanheira, a member of the Socialist Equality Group (Brazil), and today we are here at the University of São Paulo distributing leaflets demanding the release of Bogdan Syrotiuk, a Ukrainian socialist sentenced to 15 years in prison for opposing the war.

His crime was writing a series of articles for the World Socialist Web Site, denouncing the war and calling for the unity of Russian and Ukrainian workers against it, and denouncing the glorification by the Ukrainian state of the Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera and his OUN.

Behind me is the Nicolau Sevcenko Auditorium, where, three years ago, in 2023, we held the event “The War in Ukraine and How to Stop It.” The Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, Bogdan’s organization, sent greetings to the event, which is now in the records of this trial as one of the alleged pieces of evidence of his crime.

And what did that statement say? It asserted that neither the Putin nor the Zelensky government represent Russian or Ukrainian workers, that they are both defenders of the capitalist system and the interests of their respective oligarchies, and that only the international unity of the working class against war, imperialism and the capitalist system offers a way out, not any form of bourgeois nationalism. The document called on Brazilian workers and youth to join this unified international struggle against war, fascism and the decaying capitalist system.

The criminalization of thought in Ukraine is a dress rehearsal for what capitalist governments worldwide, including in Brazil, have in store for all those who rise up against this state of affairs.

The struggle for Bogdan’s freedom is now entering its decisive phase, and can be won. We call upon young people, workers, intellectuals, scientists, artists and all those who defend democratic rights in Brazil to join this campaign.

Sign the international petition for the liberation of Bogdan Syrotiuk. Amplify this message.