Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine with regard to the decision of the North-Caucasus District Military Court of the Russian Federation on a case of Pavlo Hryb, an illegally sentenced citizen of Ukraine
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest against an illegal ruling of the North Caucasus District Military Court of the Russian Federation of 22 March 2019 sentencing citizen of Ukraine Pavlo Hryb to 6 years in jail under fabricated charges of inciting a terrorist act.
From the brutal kidnapping of Pavlo Hryb in the city of Homel, Belarus on 24 August 2017, declining to disclose any information on his whereabouts for an extended period of time, illegally keeping him in custody in Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, restricting the provision for him of urgent medical aid, to handing down an illegal verdict — Russia has blatantly violated the norms and principles of international law.
The testimony with regard to the fabricated charges against him, threats, physical coercion and mental abuse by Russian law enforcement that Pavlo Hryb provided during the proceedings was impudently declined by the court.
We are convinced that by issuing the aforementioned court ruling the Russian side is committing a gross violation of human rights, in particular, the right to fair trial and the right to life. Given the serious diseases acquired by Pavlo Hryb and his critical medical condition, he may be unable to endure the transfer and the inhumane conditions of the Russian penitentiary system. Pavlo Hryb needs constant supervision by highly qualified physicians, regular comprehensive medical screening and hospitalisation in a specialized medical clinic.
We demand the illegal verdict in the case to be immediately revoked, and Pavlo Hryb to be provided with constant medical supervision, released and returned to Ukraine without hindrance.
We call on the international community to step up its pressure on the aggressor state, the Russian Federation, so as to bring to an end its blatant violations of human rights and ensure the release of the illegally convicted citizen of Ukraine Pavlo Hryb.
Ukraine will continue to apply all available political and diplomatic leverage to ensure the release of Pavlo and other Ukrainian citizens illegally convicted for political reasons in the territory of the Russian Federation and the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.
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