A court hearing in the case against freelance journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko was to be held today in the “Simferopol District Court”.

However, later it turned out that this meeting had been held extramural, non-attended by the mass media and the audience.

According to the journalist’s lawyer Dmitriy Dinze, during the hearing, the “court” moved out to examine the car of Vladyslav Yesypenko kept in the dedicated parking area. As to Vladyslav Yesypenko, he was brought to the parking area from the pre-trial detention center.

When examining the car, the defense made measurements of the pocket under the steering wheel, where, according to the investigation, Mr.Yesypenko had kept an explosive device.

The lawyer noted that the defense was planning to compare these data with the total volume of a grenade and a pouch found in the car, in order to understand whether this object could be in the pocket under the steering column.

As mentioned by Dmitry Dinze, Mr.Yesypenko was feeling fine, was in a good mood, and the defense gave him instructions on how to overcome panic attacks.

The next session will be held on 22 November.

To remind,

• On March 10, Vladyslav Yesypenko, a native of Kryvyi Rih, was detained at the Angarsk Pass. He was in the peninsula as assigned by KRYM.REALII editorial board. For instance, on the eve of his arrest, he had been filming the laying of flowers at the monument to Shevchenko in Simferopol.
• The FSB stated that he allegedly was working for the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, and that an explosive device had been found in his car.
• The ‘Kievsky District Court’ of Simferopol took Mr. Yesypenko into custody on May 11, 2021 on the charges of Article 223.1-1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (illegal manufacture, processing or repair of firearms, their main parts (except for firearms of limited destruction), as well as illegal manufacture of ammunition). Later, another criminal case was opened under RF CC Art. 222.1-1 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of explosives or explosive devices).
• On April 6, 2021, the “Supreme Court of Republic of Crimea” rejected an appeal against the arrest of Vladyslav Yesypenko. At the session, the journalist described in detail how he had been tortured by Russian security forces after his arrest on March 10 in order to force a confession about his alleged work for Ukrainian intelligence. For instance, he said that the security men had bagged his head preventing him from breathing to obtain a confession of guilt.
• On July 6, Dliaver Berberov, a judge of “Simferopol District Court”, decided on remanding the journalist in custody for six months – so he should be kept in the pre-trial detention center until December 18.
• Ms Olha Skrypnyk, head of CHRG, named those responsible for the falsification of evidence in the Yesypenko’s Case, torture, delivery of judgements in violation of fundamental human rights and the norms of international humanitarian law. In particular, these are: Vitaliy Vlasov – senior “investigator” of the investigative department of the Central Federal Security Bureau; Anastasia Gramashova – “prosecutor” in the criminal case; Viktor Krapko – “judge” of the “Kievskiy district court” of Simferopol, who ruled on taking in custody on March 12, 2021; ‘judge’ Dliaver Berberov, who decided on remanding the journalist in custody for six months.