Ukrainian political prisoner Kostiantyn Shyring, 61, was sentenced to 12 years for espionage by a court in the Russian-occupied Crimea. The verdict was announced by Shyring’s lawyer Dmitry Dinze on Oct. 14, as the court hearing was held behind closed doors.
Ukraine has demanded the immediate release of Shyring.
“It is not the first time that the so-called ‘courts’ have held closed hearings against Ukrainian citizens,” said Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova. “I condemn this illegal action and the continuation of political repressions by the occupying authorities against Ukrainians.”
Denisova called on the international community to use all possible tools to increase pressure on Russia to release all detained Ukrainians held in Crimea.
Read More: Russian Repression: Kremlin targets scores of Crimean Tatars for detention
Shyring was detained by Russia’s FSB on April 15, 2020, together with his partner Tatiana Kuzmenko, who served in the Russian armed forces. Russia accused Shyring and Kuzmenko of working for Ukraine’s intelligence.
According to the Russian prosecution, Kuzmenko passed Shyring the information on the number of Russian military personnel and weapons in occupied Crimea. In turn, Shyring was accused of passing the following information to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense.
Kuzmenko was sentenced to 8 years in prison in June.
Since Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, over 200 Ukrainian citizens became political prisoners of the Kremlin for their opposition to Russia’s occupation and its frequent crackdowns. The native Crimean Tatars have been the primary targets of the Kremlin for their support of Ukraine. Most have been thrown into Russian prisons on charges like terrorism, espionage and treason.
On Sept. 3, Russian authorities searched the houses of Crimean Tatars Eldar Odamanov and Aziz Akhtemov. The two were arrested.
On Sept. 4, the FSB came to the houses of Shevket Useinov, Asan Akhtemov, and Nariman Dzhelyalov, and arrested them, too. Akhtemov later said that the Russian police beat and tortured him with electric shocks on Sept. 4, to force him to confess to a crime he did not commit.
