A distinguished academician of the European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (EUASU) and practising attorney, Dr. Oleg Maltsev, has spent more than 300 days in custody at the Odessa pre‑trial detention centre. According to a report delivered by the French human‑rights organisation “Coordination des Associations et des Particuliers pour la Liberté de Conscience” and the Belgian NGO “Human Rights Without Frontiers” at the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, his high‑profile arrest rests on a criminal case allegedly fabricated by Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officer Yevhen Voloshcheniuk.

EUASU’s new international initiative is launched not simply by the purported fabrication of that case or the length of Dr. Maltsev’s detention. The academician is being prosecuted in Ukraine solely for his beliefs — without any allegation of violent conduct or material harm. This striking violation has prompted EUASU to establish a global expert and scientific coalition in defence of freedom of beliefs.

According to defence counsel Yevheniia Tarasenko, Ukraine’s law‑enforcement and security agencies deemed it threatening that, during a closed EUASU meeting in spring 2022, Dr. Oleg Maltsev questioned whether the authorities could protect the Academy’s scholars and physical assets. The session took place amid the Russian Federation’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, the virtually uncontested capture of Kherson and the looming risk that Odesa might fall.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) now bases its case solely on the fact that Dr. Maltsev and his colleagues discussed contingency measures for self‑defence against vandals and looters who were active in newly occupied areas during the first months of the war.

Criminal prosecution purely for one’s beliefs is a troubling signal for any democracy aspiring to full European Union membership. Such proceedings contravene both constitutional guarantees and international standards safeguarding freedom of thought and expression in civilised democratic societies.

The global expert and scientific coalition seeks to create a landmark human‑rights precedent. Its purpose is to remind the Ukrainian authorities that, even under martial law, the criminal prosecution of citizens and their prolonged, non‑reviewable detention for their beliefs cannot be justified. The coalition plans to engage with leading international organisations such as “Human Rights Watch” and “Amnesty International”, among others.

More than 30 professionals from 11 countries have already joined the coalition. We invite lawyers, scholars, specialists and journalists who share our conviction that freedom of beliefs is inviolable — and must never, under any circumstances, be grounds for criminal prosecution — to collaborate in this endeavour.

Beliefs  Are  Not  a  Crime — Free  Dr.  Oleg  Maltsev!

About EUASU

The European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (EUASU) is a non-governmental organization, the main purpose of which is to pursue the promotion and advancement of science and scholarship in Ukraine and worldwide. The Academy conducts academic research across a range of disciplines, and brings together scientists, academics, and experts with the goal of developing and popularizing science (in the broad sense, encompassing the social, psychological, and human sciences).

Professor Jerome Krase, Murray Koppelman Professor and Professor Emeritus at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, serves as President of the European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (EUASU).

Learn more at: www.euasu.org

About Dr. Oleg Maltsev

Dr. Oleg Maltsev is a distinguished applied scientist, academician of the European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (EUASU), practising attorney, senior Partner at Redut Law Firm and at Neuchmann & Partners. He holds doctoral degrees (kandidat nauk) in both Psychology and Philosophy, and is recognised as a scholar, author, researcher, criminologist, and psychologist.

Dr. Maltsev teaches a variation of the Fate Analysis method developed by Hungarian psychoanalyst Leopold Szondi through his organization called Applied Sciences Association. He is the chief editor of interdisciplinary journal Baudrillard Now, editorial member of French journal Dogma, editorial member of Expedition Journal and member of international editorial advisory board of the American Behavioral Scientist among other publications.

Learn more at: www.oleg-maltsev.com/

Press Contacts: info@euasu.org