The perpetrators who attacked a farmer in Kherson were sentenced to prison and had their property confiscated

Two militants from the so-called “DNR” were sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. The prosecutor’s office proved that in the spring of 2022, they tortured a local farmer and demanded money from him in exchange for his release.

This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General. 

The men were convicted of treason and violations of the laws and customs of war.

According to the case file, in April 2022, the defendants illegally detained the farmer and held him in the basement of a residential building. Law enforcement officials note that the militants beat the man with their feet and the butt of an assault rifle on his head and limbs, and also tortured him with an open flame from a gas burner. The convicted men demanded four million U.S. dollars from the civilian in exchange for his release.

Investigators determined that the militants are residents of Khartsyzsk in the Donetsk region. According to law enforcement officials, they voluntarily joined the 109th Rifle Regiment of the so-called “DNR.”

Intent previously asked Odesa-based lawyer Igor Shavrov how effective trials in absentia are and whether there is a likelihood that their sentences will be carried out. 

According to the expert, in absentia court verdicts are not merely formal but are genuine. A conviction in absentia for collaboration is the only legal way to hold a person criminally liable if that person is in hiding on the territory of a terrorist state. It is a viable means of issuing an international arrest warrant for that person. 

According to the expert, it is important to note that, under Ukrainian law, statutes of limitations do not apply to criminal offenses against the foundations of national security, which include collaboration. This means that a person can be held accountable regardless of how much time has passed since the crime was committed.

Юлія Калабайда