Two former SBU officers from Crimea charged with treason and torture

Two former SBU officers in Crimea who joined the Russian Federal Security Service after the occupation of the peninsula. According to investigators, they illegally detained and tortured a civilian for more than six hours, forcing him to confess to involvement in a "banned" organization.

This was reported by the press service of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

Law enforcers sent to court an indictment against two former employees of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, who, after the occupation of the peninsula, sided with Russia and began working in the so-called "FSB of Russia in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. They are accused of high treason, violation of the laws and customs of war, and one of them is also accused of illegal entry into a home.

According to the investigation, after being employed by the Russian special service, the defendants participated in the persecution of Crimean Tatars. In particular, they helped the occupation authorities fabricate cases against local residents for alleged involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia.

Investigators found that in 2016, after learning about the active public position of one of the Crimean residents, the defendants arrived at his house in Yalta and illegally searched it. After that, the man was detained without legal grounds and taken to the building of the FSB occupation department.

There, the victim was detained and tortured for more than six hours during interrogation. According to the investigation, the FSB officers threatened him with physical violence and tried to force him to confess to involvement in "banned organizations."

As the man refused to give the required "testimony," the torture intensified. One of the defendants tied the victim's hands with plastic ties and strangled him with a plastic bag, while the other demanded that he sign the prepared documents.

The actions of the suspects are qualified as violations of the laws and customs of war committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy, as well as high treason. In addition, one of them is charged with violation of the inviolability of housing.

If proven guilty in court, the defendants face up to 15 years in prison.

Also, a former DPR unit commander from Simferopol will stand trial for torturing prisoners of war and civilians. The prisoners were beaten, starved and forced to eat porridge with sand and stones.

Анна Бальчінос