16/02/2022 14:57

Commissioner: Ukrainian citizen Vladyslav Epipenko faces 11 years in a maximum security penal colony

Ukrainian citizen Vladyslav Epipenko faces up to 11 years in a maximum security prison. The prosecution insisted on this punishment for the Radio Svoboda journalist during today's hearing in the so-called Simferopol District Court in the temporarily occupied Crimea, which is controlled by Russia. This was announced by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Lyudmyla Denisova.

Vladislav Yesipenko is accused of allegedly "illegal production of explosives and possession of weapons." Vladislav does not admit his guilt.

"The decision of the Russian prosecutor's office is an example of intimidation of independent journalists, suppression of freedom of opinion in the temporarily occupied Crimea and another evidence of the policy of persecution and repression of Ukrainian citizens by the occupying country," said Lyudmila Denisova.

The Commissioner calls on the international community to continue sanctions and political pressure on the aggressor country to release all those illegally detained by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.