Mr Maksim Sokurenko, a Ukrainian national, was sentenced to 6 months in the penal settlement for splashing a monument to the Russian military who conquered Crimea in 2014, with paint.
The sentence that the Crimean Human Rights Group disposes of, states that the Ukrainian did these actions due to a ‘political hatred’ caused by non-acceptance of the Crimean occupation.
The sentence was passed by ‘judge’ Olga Chepel’ on April 17th 2019 though the information has been just received by the human rights experts.
The Ukrainian was found guilty of committing a crime under RF CC Article 214-2 (vandalism) and sentenced to 6 months in custody to be served in the penal settlement.
‘The punishment period shall be started from the day of sentence pronouncement, i.e. the 17th of April 2019. To account a period in custody from January 28th 2019 till the effectiveness day of the verdict included, for Maksim Sergeyevich Sokurenko into the sentence period, pursuant to RF CC Article 72-3.1 (c) as one day in custody equal to two days of serving the sentence in the penal settlement,’ the verdict states.
The document also points out that Mr Sokurenko did not admit his guilt and renounced the Russian nationality at the court session.
‘Mr M.S.Sokurenko is a Ukrainian national, does not recognize the fact of Crimea’s joining the Russian Federation due to the 16 March 2014 referendum outcomes, and considers the state symbols of the Russian Federation on the territory of Republic of Crimea unlawful. To express his public position and to attract the attention of the present authorities, he splashed the monument to the Russian Army soldiers and officers with paint…’, the verdict states.
The Crimean Human Rights Group experts highlight that the verdict is politically reasoned because a Ukrainian national has been deprived of liberty solely for his position of non-recognizing the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
We would remind that on January 28th 2019 Maksim Sokurenko, a Crimean resident, was detained after he had splashed the monument to the Russian military who participated in the military occupation of Crimea, installed in City of Simferopol, with the red paint.
On January 29th 2019 the ‘Tsentranly District Court’ of Simferopol remanded him in custody.
