Russia may bring new charges against captive Ukrainian sailors
Lawyer: It will depend on the "political situation and the political will of the Kremlin"
|
|
The Russian authorities may bring new charges against 24 Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia's FSB in the Black Sea on November 25. "All 24 sailors were charged with the same: violation of Part 3 of Article 322 of the Criminal Code of Russia (Illegal crossing the state border of Russia). The highest punishment under this article is six years in prison. But as is seen from experience in other cases and in relation to other political prisoners, I do not rule out that the Russian authorities may try to bring more charges by adding new articles," Russian lawyer of the Ukrainian sailors Nikolay Polozov said in an interview to Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Ukrainian service. According to him, it will depend on the "political situation and the political will of the Kremlin." "Of course, such a danger exists," the lawyer added.
The Russian authorities have not yet commented on this statement of Polozov.
UNIAN reported earlier, on the morning of November 25, Russia blocked the passage to the Kerch Strait for the Ukrainian tugboat "Yany Kapu" and two armored naval boats "Berdyansk" and "Nikopol," which were on a scheduled re-deployment from the Black Sea port of Odesa to the Azov Sea port of Mariupol.
The Ukraine Navy Command noted that the Russian side had been informed of the plans to re-deploy the vessels in advance in accordance with international standards to ensure the safety of navigation. The Russian coast guard ship "Don" rammed the Ukrainian tugboat, damaging the Ukrainian vessel. As the Ukrainian boats were heading back in the Odesa direction after being rejected passage via the Kerch Strait, Russian coast guards opened aimed fire on them. All 24 crew members on board were captured and later remanded in custody for two months, being charged with "illegal border crossing" (the sailors are facing up to six years in prison). Three crewmen were wounded in the attack. Russian-controlled "courts" in occupied Crimea ruled that all 24 detainees should be remanded in custody, after which they were transferred to the Moscow-based Lefortovo and Matrosskaya Tishina detention centers.
UNIAN
Related publications:
|
-
The culture of 'Muscovite Rus' came to form from two heterogeneous sources. The seed of the religious and artistic culture reached Muscovy from southeastern Europe (Byzantium, the Balkans) through Kyiv. On the other hand, the foundation of the political and legal culture came to Muscovy from 'Ulus Jöchi', better known as the Golden Horde. As a result, the Russian "spiritual culture" took the shape of a familiar European facade, behind which a non-European state infrastructure hid.
7 April,
-
German chancellor Olaf Scholz says Putin’s comments on US biological weapons seemed like an ‘implicit threat’
23 March,
-
It is us, Ukrainians, and all the citizens of this country, who must keep studying our own history. To defend our land and our country, we must know it better.
20 March,
-
86.6% of Russians tolerate and support the potential assault on the territory of the European Union, including: Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and others as evidenced by the results of the sociological survey conducted by “Active Group”
18 March,
-
Ukrainian troops with anti-tank weapons set ambushes, while their enemy slowly encircles cities to besiege them
12 March,
-
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced more than a million people to flee their homeland in just a week
3 March,
|
