Today, on 23 May, a court session was held in the Razdolnensky District Court, which examined the issue of extending the detention for Ukrainian activist Vladimir Balukh.
“Judge” Maria Bedritskaya decided to extend the detention period to Vladimir Balukh until 4 September, 2017.
The defence of the activist drew the court’s attention to the procedural violation – the court itself made a motion to extend the preventive measure. The prosecutor did not receive such demands. At the same time, according to lawyers, the prosecution did not provide any evidence pointing to the need to keep Vladimir Balukh in custody.
In addition, lawyers stressed that the crime charged to him belongs to the category of medium offense severity, so the detention for more than six months is only permissible in exceptional circumstances.
Vladimir Balukh himself complained of pain in the chest and headache, and also recalled that while he was imprisoned, there was no one to care for the elderly mother. At the same time, he said that he would not ask court about anything and reminded about the highest court, which is waiting for all of us
