Dear Mr. Michel Platini:
The image of the Union of European Football Associations, which is holding its 2012 championships in Ukraine and Poland next year, may suffer an irreparable blow – all due to the developing scandal around ProstoPrint, a popular Ukrainian printing company which applies images on souvenir products and clothes.
On Sept. 6, the company’s activity was paralyzed as a result of a raid by Ukrainian militia authorities at its office. Equipment was seized. Criminal proceedings were launched against employees. They are accused of illegally using the Euro 2012 logo on t-shirts and clothing.
As it turns out, the militiamen themselves had ordered application of such a logo on 50 t-shirts, so as to obtain grounds for suspension of the company’s activity.
In arranging such a provocation, the militia committed a number of gross outrages. They searched without an order, seized property without an order, interrogated suspects and examined witnesses using physical and psychological pressure, including threats of violence).
UEFA President Michel Platini, center, views the stadium which will host soccer matches of the 2012 European Championship in Lviv, Ukraine, on Sept. 26, 2011 (AP)
The militiamen did not have any grounds for such measures against ProstoPrint because it is a customer. In short, employees of ProstoPrint were not obliged to verify the customer’s right to use the logo of Euro 2012. According to law, the owner of the product is liable for observance to intellectual property rights, not the company which provides services in producing T-shirts with logos. This is clearly set out in both Ukrainian legislation and relevant European Union standards that Ukraine seeks to abide by as part of its European integration aspirations.
The real reason of the “assault” against the company with all this iniquity was not the T-shirts produced through the militia’s provocation but quite another product: a popular T-shirt that has grown within a short period of time to symbolize growing frustration and criticism of President Viktor Yanukovych’s policies.
Under the pretext of UEFA’s intellectual property rights rules, Ukraine’s non-democratic leadership has unleashed a campaign of illegal persecution of its citizens, punishing them for their political beliefs. In order to defend our rights and freedoms set forth in the Constitution, we will do our best to draw a wide international response to this scandal.
In our view, it is outrageous that UEFA patent agents in Ukraine are directly involved in the crime against ProstoPrint.
We urge you intervene in this situation personally. Withdraw the application of UEFA patent agents against ProstoPrint due to absence of formal components of a crime in the company’s actions. You must prevent Ukraine’s authorities from using UEFA as a tool for political repressions.
Oleksandr Danylyuk is a lawyer and executive head of the All-Ukrainian Centre of Business Assistance.
