Russian court upholds Maksym Butkevych's "sentence"
The Moscow General Jurisdiction Court of Appeal No. 1 upheld the "ruling" in the case of human rights advocate, journalist and soldier, Maksym Butkevych, who was sentenced to 13 years in a high security by the Luhansk occupation court.
This was reported by the Russian "Mediazona".
However, the judges decided to count the actual start of his detention (August 19, 2022, the day the Ministry of Defense confirmed that Butkevych was imprisoned) as the start of the 13 years.
"We are waiting for a prisoner swap. If there is now – we are filing a cassation appeal," lawyer Solovyov told Butkevych in the end.
As IMI reported, on March 10, 2023, the Investigative Committee of Russia announced that the "court" of ORDLO had convicted three Ukrainian POWs: Maksym Butkevych (13 years in prison), Viktor Pokhozey (8,5 years in prison), and Vladyslav Shel (18,5 years in prison).
They were found guilty "of abusing the civilian population and using prohibited methods in an armed conflict (Part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)."
The Ukrainian MFA has called on the international community to condemn the sentence of the POW and human rights advocate Maksym Butkevych.
On March 13, 2023, human rights advocates, media workers, volunteers and activists called for the release of Maksym Butkevych, a prisoner of war illegally convicted by the occupiers.
In June 2022, human rights activist, journalist, and co-founder of ZMINA human rights center and NGO "Hromadske Radio" Maksym Butkevych has been taken prisoner by the Russians near the captured Zolote and Hirske villages in Luhansk oblast. Russian propagandists announced the capture of Butkevych on June 24, publishing a video of his interrogation.
In September 2022, the Ministry of Defense of Russia confirmed holding human rights activist and Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier Maksym Butkevych as prisoner. He is currently in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk oblast.
Help us be even more cool!
