Yesypenko needs medical and psychological help - a public defender
Crimean political prisoner Vladyslav Yesypenko, sentenced to six years in a maximum security penal colony, needs medical and psychological assistance.
This was announced by the public defender of the political prisoner, Metropolitan archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine Kliment on February 21 at a briefing in Kyiv, as Ukrinform reported.
"Vladyslav Yesypenko's health has been exhausted - both psychologically and physically. He needs medical and psychological help, "the metropolitan archbishop said.
He noted that during the first meeting with Yesypenko in the Simferopol pre-trial detention center on September 20, 2021, he drew attention to his psychological condition. "I did not see a living person, he was, in fact, a cabbage that could not speak, think or do. So he was smashed, intimidated. Thank God, the opportunity to talk to him led to the fact that in court Vladyslav began to take action and tell everything that really happened, and not what was written in the case files of the criminal case, "he said.
According to Kliment, Vladyslav returned to journalism (as far as possible in such conditions): he began to write and interview political prisoners.
The metropolitan noted that the political prisoner will be transferred, the terms and route of which even Yesypenko’s lawyers will not know. According to him, from the day the journalist was detained on March 10, when he would have been released, and then he allegedly came to the FSB public reception, communication with him was completely cut off, no one could call him.
According to the public defender, the witnesses in the "case" were constantly confused and contradicted each other. And when lawyer Dmytro Dinze managed to conduct an investigative experiment to find out whether an object resembling an explosive device was in the box in front of the car, it became clear that this "object" did not fit in the box of the car.
"Three investigators who took part in the operational activities could not clearly explain this situation," said Kliment.
As IMI reported, on February 16 the Simferopol district court controlled by Russia sentenced Vladyslav Yesypenko to six years in a penal colony.
Russian judge Dlyaver Berberov also fined the journalist 110,000 rubles (about $1 464).
As IMI reported, on February 15 the prosecutors in the occupied Crimea demanded 11 years of imprisonment in case of illegal storage and transportation of the explosive device.
Yesypenko's lawyer Dmytro Dinze said that all the arguments in favor of his acquittal were presented at bar. Speaking in court on February 15, Yesypenko said the case was politically motivated.
On July 15, 2021, in the Russian-controlled Simferopol District Court, a Russian prosecutor issued an indictment in the case of Vladislav Yesypenko. He is charged under Articles 223-1 (illegal manufacture of explosives, processing or repair of explosive devices) and 222.1 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of weapons, their main parts, ammunition) of the Criminal Code of Russia.
Penalty under the both articles imposes up to 12 years in prison. The maximum term of imprisonment under a combination of two articles is 18 years.
As IMI reported, on March 10, Russian FSB officers detained Vladyslav Yesypenko in the occupied Crimea. Yesypenko took part in the action dedicated to Taras Shevchenko's anniversary, which took place in Simferopol on March 9. Vladyslav Yesypenko is charged with gathering information "in the interests of Ukraine's special services," including for the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Russian FSB's Public Relations Center reported on March 16. According to the FSB, Yesypenko "carried out photo and video recording of the area, livelihoods and places of mass stay of people in the Crimea."
As IMI reported, on April 6, Vladyslav Yesypenko said that FSB investigators had tortured him.
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