Moscow upholds 13-year prison sentence for Ukrainian human rights activist
The Moscow court considered the appeal and upheld the decision on 13 years in prison for Maksym Butkevych, the Ukrainian human rights activist, who was taken prisoner last summer.
Details: The judges decided to count the actual time of detention from 19 August 2022 – that is, from the moment when the Russian Ministry of Defence recognised the fact of Butkevych's imprisonment.
Butkevych attended the meeting remotely via video link from temporarily occupied Luhansk and said his last words:
Quote: "I would only like to express my gratitude to all those people who care about my fate and all Ukrainian prisoners of war who are now in a difficult situation. People who are in the status of prisoners of war, or already convicted, or also the ones who think constantly not only about relatives and friends but also about all those who remained at large, who are in Ukraine, and everyone hopes that prisoners of war will be released."
Details: He reported not receiving news or books. He watched TV for four months, and it was only Russian television. During all his time in detention he received just one letter, one that contained congratulations on his birthday. He added that other prisoners also do not receive parcels.
Employees of the consulates of Germany, the United Kingdom and France, as well as human rights activists of Memorial Oleg Orlov and Svetlana Ganushkina, came to court to support Butkevych.
Quote: "I am now interested even more in human rights topics, the penitentiary system and Article 3 of the European Convention. There will be a lot of work when, God willing, I am set free."
Background:
- Butkevych was captured by Russian forces in July 2022. The detention of Butkevych was reported by Russian propagandists by publishing a video of the interrogation. It was claimed that the Ukrainian servicemen, among them Butkevych, "surrendered near Hirske."
- On 23 February, at the Berlin Film Festival, representatives of the Ukrainian film industry called on the international cultural community to demand the release of Butkevych from Russian captivity.
- In March, a "court" in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts "sentenced" him to 13 years in a maximum security colony for allegedly shelling the entrance to Severodonetsk and injuring two civilians.
- They claim that Butkevych pleaded guilty. However, independent lawyers, both on the Russian and Ukrainian sides, do not have access to the case file.
- The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed that the entire trial is a hoax and was staged to legalise political reprisals against Ukrainians.
- The announced sentences against Butkevych are legally null and void.
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