The Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Akyar (Sevastopol) together with the Global Rights Compliance organization sent evidence of Russian crimes committed in the occupied Crimea to the International Criminal Court.
«The evidence contained in the submission is based on the materials of criminal proceedings of the prosecutor’s office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Law enforcement officers have documented at least 93 facts of persecution of representatives of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, Protestants and other members of religious communities,» the prosecutor’s office said.
Wayne Jordash, Managing Partner of Global Rights Compliance, noted that «Crimea became a springboard for Russia’s full-scale criminal campaign, a «test bed» for international crimes that later expanded to the scale of the entire country.»
«This new submission to the ICC contains more additional evidence of Russia’s war crimes, crimes against humanity and systematic persecution of religious groups in Ukraine. It is yet another chilling reminder that Crimea was the place in Ukraine where Russia’s crimes began, and where efforts to bring justice must begin,» he said.