Sevastopol Deputy Sentenced to 11 Years for Treason Amid Crimea Occupation

A deputy of the Sevastopol City Council of the VI convocation from the Party of Regions was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

According to the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, the sentence was announced in absentia.

The investigation established that in March 2014, the deputy, along with other members of the Sevastopol City Council, voted to participate in an illegal "all-Crimean referendum". This decision was intended to conceal the fact of the occupation of Crimea by the Russian armed forces.

Later, the deputy supported the so-called "Declaration of Independence of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol", ignoring the requirements of the Constitution of Ukraine. By his actions, he assisted the aggressor state in subversive activities against Ukraine, harming its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The prosecutor's office emphasized that 21 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and 8 deputies of the Sevastopol City Council who chose the path of treason have already been convicted in absentia on public charges.

Earlier, on public charges, the autonomy's prosecutor's office found guilty of treason a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the AR of Crimea of the VI convocation who supported the decision to hold an "all-Crimean referendum." The man was sentenced to 13 years in prison. The prosecutor's office also noted that the convict is under international sanctions of the EU, the USA, the UK, Australia, Japan, etc.

Earlier, prosecutors proved in court that after the occupation of the Crimean peninsula, two former judges of the Sudak and Kerch city courts of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea betrayed their oath of allegiance to the people of Ukraine and joined the enemy. The judge found them guilty of treason in absentia and sentenced them to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Андрій Колісніченко