Former law enforcement officer deported residents of Kherson region to Russia and received 12 years in prison

The former law enforcement officer was sentenced to prison for collaborating with the occupiers and organizing the illegal deportation of Ukrainians from Kherson region. The sentence was passed in absentia, and the punishment will begin after his arrest.

This was reported by the press service of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office.

The former deputy head and head of the department of the Holoprystan Correctional Colony No. 7 was sentenced to imprisonment for organizing the forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian citizens from the Kherson region.

In September 2022, during the occupation of the Kherson region, the 38-year-old man agreed to cooperate with the Russian occupiers and was appointed by them as the head of the Holoprystan penal colony. Since October 2022, he has been responsible for the temporary placement of convicts from the colonies of the right-bank part of the Kherson region.

After that, people were transported by special vehicles to other colonies in the occupied territories, as well as to correctional facilities in Russia. In total, in cooperation with representatives of the Russian penitentiary system, he helped to illegally transfer and deport more than 1700 Ukrainian citizens who had been convicted and were serving their sentences in the colonies of the Kherson region.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for this crime. The court passed the sentence in absentia, ie. without his presence, and the convict will begin serving his sentence after he is detained and brought to the execution of the sentence.

A former employee of a penal colony in Kherson will also be tried for collaboration with the occupiers and violation of the laws of war. In October-November 2022, he, together with representatives of the occupation authorities, organized the transfer of convicts to other colonies, in particular to the Holoprystan Correctional Colony No. 7, and later the forced deportation of more than 1500 people to Russia and the temporarily occupied territories.

Since December 2022, he has forced some prisoners to perform forced labor: carry stones and rubble for the foundation of a new pre-trial detention center, dig holes for water supply and perform other hard physical tasks under the supervision of a convoy.

Анна Бальчінос