Appeals Court Clears Journalist Kotsaba Over Draft Dodging
On July 14, the Appeals Court of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast declared journalist Ruslan Kotsaba not guilty of treason and released him from custody, Ukrinform reports.
The prosecution requested the court to sentence Kotsaba to 13 years of imprisonment with seizure of property.
On May 12, Ivano-Frankivsk City Court convicted him for ‘obstruction of the activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’ and sentenced him to 3.5 years in prison. Kotsaba was detained in early 2015 for allegedly seeking to disrupt military conscription. Later on, Amnesty International declared Kotsaba a ‘prisoner of conscience.’
Source: Ukrayinska Pravda