Гаряча лінія
Гаряча лінія
Oleksandr Pogorelov, a 43-year-old Ukrainian citizen, has been illegally detained for the fifth year in a row in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region. This was announced by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Lyudmyla Denisova.
Alexander is a resident of Donetsk, a builder by profession. After the beginning of the Russian aggression, he left for Kyiv, but from time to time came to visit his relatives in the temporarily occupied Donetsk.
Representatives of the occupation administration abducted him on November 30, 2017, while crossing the CPVR in the temporarily occupied territory as he was returning to the capital. A few days later, the parents' house in Donetsk was searched. Oleksandr's mother was accused of "administrative violation" and detained for thirty days.
Alexander has not been in contact for more than two months. His parents found him only on February 17, 2018 in the Donetsk pre-trial detention center, where they brought him the transfer they had taken. This was a confirmation of his son's stay in the pre-trial detention center.
For the first time, relatives saw Alexander on a Russian TV channel on September 17, 2018. The story said that he was accused of involvement in the assassination attempt on terrorist leader Zakharchenko, who was blown up on August 31, 2018. The cynicism was that on the day the story was released, Oleksandr Pogorelov had been behind bars in Donetsk for ten months.
Alexander's state of health is critical: as a result of torture, his arm and jaw are broken, and his kidneys are very sore.
Representatives of the occupation administration keep Oleksandr Pogorelov in the basement of a Donetsk pre-trial detention center in solitary confinement. The so-called "court hearings" are still going on - he is accused of "espionage" in favor of Ukraine. Due to quarantine restrictions, relatives cannot give Alexander what he needs.
"All the above actions against Oleksandr Pogorelov are violations not only of Ukrainian law but also of international law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions on the Rules of War, the Additional Protocols to the 1977 Geneva Conventions and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. 1950, "said Lyudmila Denisova.
The Commissioner appealed to the ICRC leadership in Ukraine to pay an urgent visit to Oleksandr Pogorelov and facilitate his immediate release.
The Ombudsman also asks the OSCE Co-ordinator in the Humanitarian Subgroup of the Tripartite Contact Group, Charlotte Relander, to intervene personally to raise the issue of his release.