A group of Ukrainians fighting for unity are preparing to contest a ban on showing images from the fighting outside the Russian Embassy in Berlin. The initiative’s creators, Vitsche, claim that the ban on projecting video onto embassy property during Berlin protests violates their right to free speech. Patrick Heinemann, the group’s attorney, made these claims in remarks to dpa on Thursday. Heinemann revealed that the group planned to appeal the German Constitutional Court as soon as possible. Heinemann insisted that the decision violated basic political liberties like the freedom to peaceful assembly, even though a Berlin appeal court upheld the prohibition.
Invoking the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the Berlin tribunal reasoned that the Ukrainian advocacy group’s proposal to illuminate images on the facade of the Russian embassy violates Germany’s obligations under international law to protect the peace and integrity of foreign diplomatic missions. These projected videos are planned to be a part of multiple protests against the ongoing Russian incursion into Ukraine around Germany on Saturday, which is also the anniversary of the full-scale invasion’s start.
