Russian cassation court upholds Iryna Danylovych's sentence

Russia's General Jurisdiction Cassation Court No. 4 tried the cassation appeal against the sentence of citizen journalist and human rights activist Iryna Danylovych and upheld it, reports the human rights initiative "Crimean Process".

As noted by the watchdog, the panel including judge Ivan Gromov saw no violations in the lower courts' disregard for the fact that Danylovych had been detained in a basement with no legal status or legal assistance. Furthermore, they gave no legal assessment to the case material falsification when questioning the witness Mr. Vysoglyad.

"Nor did the cassation panel see any violation of the right to defense in the refusal to question 15 defense witnesses or review physical evidence," reports Crimean Process.

Moreover, the court received medical documents confirming that Iryna Danylovych's health has deteriorated in prison and that she needs treatment, which is not provided to her in the prison. The prosecution claimed that the evidence on which the verdict was based raised no doubts about its legality. Iryna Danylovych herself did not take part in the cassation trial, as she is suffering from constant pain due to her untreated ear disease.

The case of Iryna Danylovych

Iryna Danylovych was detained on April 29, 2022, in the occupied Crimea. She was detained on her way from work on the road from Koktebel to Feodosia. Her house in Vladislavivka village was searched, her phone and laptop were seized.

Iryna Danylovych worked as a nurse, and was also a citizen journalist, covering the healt care workers' rights and problems of the health care system in Crimea.

On June 29, 2023, it was reported that the Russian-backed Supreme Court of Crimea changed the ruling in the case of Iryna Danylovych, who had been previously sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of storing an explosive device.

On November 2, 2023, it was reported that Iryna Danylovych had suffered a stroke while still in the Simferopol PTDC.

In August Iryna Danylovych's father, Bronyslav Danylovych, said that she had lost all hearing in her left ear and is receiving no medical assistance.

Earlier, she had been moved to a prison in Zelenokumsk, Stavropol region, Russia. In November 2023 Iryna's father reported that the prison is terribly unsanitary.

As the IMI reported, the human rights organization ZMINA says (citing the findings of independent experts) that an independent analysis of the medical examination provided to the Crimean citizen journalist Iryna Danylovych, who has been imprisoned by Russia, revealed that she suffers from acute otitis media, has neurological disorders and brain damage, and may have suffered a stroke as well.

In February 2024 it was reported that Crimean citizen journalist Iryna Danylovych is being deprived of the opportunity to take her medicine in the Russian prison. Without the medicine she suffers severe headaches and earaches.