On May 12, 2023, the Neklinovsky District Court of the Rostov Region considered an administrative case on the deportation of a political prisoner, a citizen of Ukraine Andrii Zakhtey, from the territory of the Russian Federation. At the request of the Russian prosecutor’s office, the court extended the period of detention of Andriy Zakhtei in the temporary detention center for foreign citizens for several weeks. At the same time, at the meeting, representatives of the internal bodies of Russia stated that they plan to carry out the deportation of Zakhtei through the territory of Latvia until June 3, 2023.
According to available information, the Russian lawyer representing Zakhtei will appeal this court decision and demand his immediate dismissal from the temporary detention center for foreign citizens and transfer to a third country for further return to the territory of Ukraine. At the same time, the Russian side does not consider the possibility of transferring political prisoner Andriy Zakhtei directly to the territory of Ukraine through the Russian-Ukrainian border, referring to the difficulties of diplomatic relations.
We remind you that Andriy Zakhtei ‘s lawyers are making every effort to release him from FKU TsVSIG Don and leave Russia. Despite the fact that on March 8, 2023 the SCS of Ukraine refused to issue Zakhtei a certificate of return to Ukraine, it was possible, without prejudice to the national interests of Ukraine, to resolve the issue of identifying and confirming Zakhtei’s Ukrainian citizenship and provide confirmation from a third country (the Republic of Latvia) that she does not object to his crossing the state border according to the documents he has!
We remind you that Zakhtei, along with other citizens of Ukraine, was unlawfully detained in Crimea near the village of Suvorove (Uch-Dzhilga), Krasnoperekopsky district, on the night of August 6-7, 2016, he was accused of subversive activities in favor of Ukraine. On February 16, 2018, he was illegally sentenced to 6.5 years in prison and served his sentence in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea without the possibility of Ukrainian consuls accessing him.
The European Parliament demanded from the Russian authorities the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners imprisoned in the occupied Crimea and on the territory of Russia, and noted Zakhtey in two resolutions – dated October 5, 2017 and June 14, 2018.
We remind you that on February 10, 2023, after the end of serving his illegal sentence, Zakhtei was transported under escort to the detention center Don of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (village of Sinyavskoye, Neklinovsky district of the Rostov region of the Russian Federation), where he is currently located by decision of the Neklinovsky district court of the Rostov region region dated February 15, 2023. It was this court that today extended several weeks of his stay in this closed facility.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center considers such actions of the Russian judiciary a violation of international humanitarian law and demands the immediate release of all the Kremlin’s captives and bringing Russia to justice for its crimes!