Today, on April 27, 2020, the “Supreme Court” of Crimea considered an appeal against the pre-trial detention as a preventive measure for Mr Konstantin Shiringa, a Ukrainian national, detained in Crimea.
A criminal case has been opened against the Ukrainian under an espionage article (Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
According to the press office of the “Supreme Court” of Crimea, the appeal was considered by “judge” Liudmila Kapustina, a former judge of Ukraine, who is a subject of the criminal proceedings (Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (high treason) by the Office of Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
The results of the appeal consideration are not reported on the court’s website.
The Crimean Human Rights Group does not exclude that Konstantin Shiringa could have been moved from Crimea to the Moscow pre-trial detention center, as this practice is often used in cases with similar charges.
The Crimean Human Rights Group reported earlier that on April 15, 2020, the FSB of the Russian Federation had announced the detention in Crimea of the “Ukrainian intelligence and sabotage group” members, who were reported to be a “Russian military female service person suspected of betraying state secrets” and a Ukrainian citizen suspected of “espionage activities according to the instructions of the Ukrainian Security Service. ” According to the Russian body, criminal cases “on high treason and espionage” were initiated.
It was also reported that the woman had been placed under house arrest as a preventive measure, and the man had been detained. The preventive measures for the members of the “Ukrainian intelligence and sabotage group” as the FSB called them were imposed by Andrey Dolgopolov, ‘chairman of Kiyevsky District Court’ who is also under the criminal case investigation due to CC of Ukraine, Article 111-1 (high treason) by the Office of Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
