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As is by now tradition for us, we were proud to be present during the 2020 Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, held on 27-31 January 2020 in Strasbourg, France. Our delegation consisted of ODF President Lyudmyla Kozlovska, Kazakhstani activist from the ‘Qaharman’ human rights movement Dana Zhanay and Polish persecuted judge Dominik Czeszkiewicz from the Suwałki District Court.

On December 18-19, 2019, the Open Dialogue Foundation’s team, together with human rights defenders from Moldova, conducted very constructive meetings in the European Parliament in plenary session in Strasbourg. The delegation consisted of Ana Ursachi, attorney prosecuted for political reasons, Stefan Gligor, co-founder and Justice and Advocacy Program Director at the Center for Policies and Reforms, Stella Juntuan, activist and former member of the Moldovan parliament, Grigore Petrenco, political refugee in Germany and leader of the Red Bloc opposition party, and was led by our colleague Martin Mycielski, Public Affairs Director at ODF.

In light of the ongoing assault on the independence of the judiciary in Poland by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party – and especially the recently-exposed hate campaign against judges and prosecutors, orchestrated by the justice ministry itself – the Renew Europe group and the Open Dialogue Foundation have organised on December 12th, 2019, a European Parliament lunch debate with prosecutors and judges persecuted in Poland.

ODF is proud to have organised a high-level mission to Brussels of the most famous “disobedient” Polish judges & prosecutors – the leading victims of the systemic persecution & defamation of the independent judiciary in the country: judges Waldemar Żurek & Dariusz Mazur and prosecutors Krzysztof Parchimowicz & Ewa Wrzosek.

On 6 November 2019, Members of the Federal Parliament of Belgium’s asked questions to the Minister of Justice Koen Geens, during a Justice Committee hearing. Five parliamentarians asked questions regarding the controversial judicial cooperation between Belgium and Kazakhstan.

During the last PACE Autumn session (30-4 October), together with the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) and the Italian Federation for Human Rights (FIDU) we had the pleasure to host: Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian filmmaker recently released from Russian custody; Kazakhstani human rights defenders Bota Jar

Between Monday 16 and Friday 27 September 2019, representatives of the Open Dialogue Foundation Xheni Dani, Joanna Cuper and Maksym Sytnikov participated in the annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting held in Warsaw. Our representatives delivered several statements in which they raised is

Due to the intensification of attacks on judges and prosecutors belonging to the Association of Polish Independent Prosecutors, Lex Super Omnia, we held a discussion on their current situation on 26 September 2019.

Judges Waldemar Żurek, Piotr Gąciarek and Dariusz Mazur, as well as prosecutor Krzysztof Parchimowicz, will participate in the event hosted by the Open Dialogue Foundation on 26 September, 2019, as part of OSCE’s conference on human rights.

During the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, ODF will be in Warsaw with a delegation of human rights defenders and activists. The first event will take place on Wednesday 18 at 8:15 in Meeting Room 1.

The Open Dialogue Foundation is proud to have contributed to the report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers [With functioning LINK], which was presented during the 21st session of the Human Rights Council, in the framework of Item 3.

Last Tuesday, on February 19th, a group of Members of EP constituted by Ana Gomes, Barbara Lochbihler, Mady Delvaux-Stehres, Tunne Kelam, Elmar Brok, Patricia Lalonde, Brando Benifei and Julie Ward, addressed a letter to Federica Mogherini, concerning the removal of judge from office in Kazakhstan.

On 19 February in Brussels, the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the EP hosted a hearing on “Attacks on the legal profession and lawyers defending human rights”. The event was chaired by MEP A. Panzeri and touched on the pressing issue of the threats to the threats to the legal profession worldwide.

Between Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 September 2018, the ODF conducted an advocacy mission in Warsaw at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, a forum aimed at providing a platform for dialogue between NGOs and the representatives of OSCE Member States.

Within the framework of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2018 in Warsaw, the Open Dialogue Foundation will hold a side event entitled “Defence for the Defenders: lawyers and attorneys under attack for participation in politically motivated cases in the post-Soviet area”.