The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission condemned the transfer of prisoners from Crimea to the Russian Federation and called on Ukraine and the Russian Federation to find an acceptable legal mechanism for the return of Ukrainian prisoners. This was reported by the press service of the department.
“Many of these prisoners were transferred to penitentiary institutions located in remote areas of the Russian Federation. Due to the long distance and connected with these financial costs, relatives of such prisoners cannot visit them or pay for the travel of their lawyers. This is especially true for prisoners serving sentences in the form of life imprisonment – some of them have not seen their families since the moment of displacement, "- the message says.
The department noted that many prisoners would like to return to Ukraine to serve the remaining part of their sentences. However, since 2017, none of the prisoners have been returned to Ukraine.
"Ukraine does not legally recognize the sentences handed down by the courts in Crimea during the occupation. At the same time, Russia does not want to return to Ukraine those prisoners whom it considers to be citizens of the Russian Federation. We call on Ukraine and the Russian Federation to find an acceptable legal mechanism for the return of Ukrainian prisoners. from the Russian Federation", – emphasized the representatives of the monitoring mission.