The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine protests the Russian Federation due to the fact of an unlawful sentence to political prisoner Denys Kashuk, who was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison on fabricated charges. Such actions of Russia are the continuation of political repressions against citizens of Ukraine who live in conditions of occupation, the press service of the department reports.
“The occupation authority deprived Denys Kashuk of the right to defend himself, in particular, allowed an independent lawyer to be involved in the case only at the trial stage, and also exerted psychological pressure on the detainee in the form of threats against his relatives. Some family members were forced to leave the occupied peninsula due to such threats”,- the report said.
It is noted that the occupation authorities deliberately take steps that pose a serious threat to the life and health of Ukrainian citizens in the context of the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, the lack of adequate healthcare in the occupied territories and the obvious and outrageous epidemiological vulnerability in Russian places of deprivation of liberty.
“Ukraine demands to ensure the full right to life and access to healthcare for illegally detained Ukrainians, to ensure unhindered and safe access by international monitoring missions, the International Committee of the Red Cross to temporarily occupied territories and illegally detained citizens of Ukraine in order to conduct a qualified medical examination and treatment”,- the statement said.
We remind that on December 17, 2019 in the occupied Crimea, a resident of Simferopol Denys Kashuk disappeared. The next day, a search of his dwelling was conducted, and FSB officers said that Kashuk had been detained because he was suspected of “manufacture of explosives.”
On December 20, 2019, the so-called Kyiv District Court of Simferopol arrested a resident of Simferopol Denys Kashuk on suspicion of “storage of explosives and ammunition.”
On April 6, 2020, the so-called Armyansk City Court sentenced political prisoner Denys Kashuk to 3 years and 8 months in prison.