Lawyers must be protected by the state in carrying out their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) in Ukraine Christos Dzhakomopulos has said.

"The intimidation and murder of criminal defense lawyers is a serious affront on justice and fair trial principles, embodied in the European Convention on Human Rights. Lawyers must be protected by the state in carrying out their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference. They shall not be identified with their clients or their clients' causes as a result of discharging their functions," Dzhakomopulos stated, referring to the murder of lawyer Yuriy Hrabovsky, who defended Russian intelligence officer Alexander Alexandrov in court in Kyiv

Hrabovsky was one of the lawyers trained by the CoE on human rights standards, Dzhakomopulos recalled.

He urged Ukraine's authorities to carry out an efficient, effective and prompt investigation into the murder of the lawyer. Those responsible should be held accountable before the law, Dzhakomopulos said.

He called on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that Hrabovsky's colleague, Oksana Sokolovska, was provided with effective protection in accordance with a court decision of 21 March 2016.

It was reported earlier that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies had been unaware of Hrabovsky's whereabouts, starting on March 5. Anatoliy Matios, deputy prosecutor general and the main military prosecutor said on March 20, that a person suspected of organizing Hrabovsky's disappearance had been detained and arrested.

Reports on Hrabovsky's death emerged on the morning of March 25. Matios said the same day that Hrabovsky had been shot and killed, and that another person suspected of involvement in the lawyer's murder had been detained, and showed the scene of the murder and the place where the lawyer had been buried.

On March 21, a new lawyer, Valentyn Rybin, was designated to represent Alexandrov in court. On March 29 he said there was no pressure exercised on him.