Гаряча лінія
Гаряча лінія
The story of this guy is just amazing. Bohdan Kovalchuk was less than 18 years old when on August 31, 2016, he and five underage friends were abducted from the temporarily occupied city of Yasynuvata in the Donetsk region. This was announced by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Lyudmyla Denisova.
Representatives of the occupation administration accused the boys of subversive activities. According to their version, they allegedly cooperated with the Security Service of Ukraine and organized car bombings and the "DPR police department."
According to the information received by the Commissioner, for more than five years a citizen of Ukraine has been tortured by the DNR State Security Committee, but has never complained about the torture and ill-treatment he endured.
Despite all Ukraine's demands to release teenagers, in July 2018 the DNR Supreme Court sentenced them to ten to fifteen years for "terrorism."
Bohdan Kovalchuk is currently serving a 10-year term of illegal imprisonment in the Torez Correctional Facility № 28. He is now 23 years old, and almost six of them are awaiting release!
On the eve of the mutual release on December 29, 2019, the boys and parents were offered to refuse to move to the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine in exchange for a "pardon". Everyone agreed, except Bohdan Kovalchuk. He motivated the decision by the fact that he could not betray his principles of freedom, truth and devotion to the Motherland.
According to relatives, Bogdan has serious lung problems and needs constant medical examinations, which are not carried out in prison. Prior to the quarantine restrictions, only his mother, who handed over medicines and food, could visit him in the penitentiary. However, his relatives have not been in contact with him for a long time.
Before his captivity, Bohdan graduated from the Yasynuvata Vocational Lyceum of Railway Transport because he wanted to be a railway worker like his mother. Besides her, her boyfriend and 84-year-old great-grandfather are waiting for the boy at home.
"All the above actions against Bohdan Kovalchuk 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 Bohdan Kovalchuk and facilitate his immediate release. He also asked the OSCE Coordinator in the humanitarian subgroup of the Tripartite Contact Group, Charlotte Relander, to intervene personally to raise the issue of his release.