A Crimean political prisoner has been released

Crimean political prisoner Volodymyr Maladyka was released from prison after six years of unlawful detention. He was convicted in October 2022 for participating in the religious community of “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” which Russia banned in 2017.

This was reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

The prosecution’s evidence against Volodymyr consisted of videos of four religious services secretly recorded by FSB agents. Following this, the occupying forces conducted mass searches of believers’ homes in Sevastopol. Criminal proceedings were initiated against Volodymyr Maladyka. His case is an example of how Russia persecutes Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea for their religious beliefs.

In 2017, the Russian Supreme Court banned the “Jehovah’s Witnesses” religious community and declared it an “extremist organization.” As a result of this decision, ordinary religious gatherings and Bible readings in Russia have become grounds for searches, criminal cases, and actual prison terms. Subsequently, Russia illegally extended this ban to the occupied territories of Ukraine.

It was previously reported that at least 56 Crimeans are being held in “incommunicado” detention at Pretrial Detention Center No. 2 in Simferopol. Twenty separate cells have been set up for them.Oleg PlatonovandNatalia Polyukh, a married couple from Sevastopol, are also being held in this same detention center.

Юлія Калабайда

A Crimean political prisoner was released after six years in prison

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