Two judges from Crimea were each sentenced to 13 years for treason

Two judges from Crimea were sentenced in absentia in Ukraine to 13 years in prison for treason—both had joined the Russian occupation authorities after the peninsula was occupied.

This was reported on the website of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

According to the prosecutor’s office, following the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Armed Forces, the convicted men betrayed their oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people and went over to serve the enemy. One of them took up the position of judge of the “Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea,” while the other became a judge of the “Railway District Court of Simferopol, Republic of Crimea.”

In these positions, the men administered “justice” on behalf of and in the interests of the aggressor state. Through their actions and decisions, the convicted men contributed to the establishment and strengthening of the occupying judicial authorities on the peninsula and assisted representatives of the Russian Federation in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine.

One of the convicted men was additionally sentenced to confiscation of property.

Intent found the verdicts and identified the names of the convicted individuals on the website of Ukraine’s judiciary. They are Timur Slezko, who works at the occupation-era “Simferopol Railway District Court,” and Roman Novikov, who remained at the “Supreme Court of Crimea.”

<picture></picture>Timur Slezko. Photo: Myrotvorets

<span>Judge </span>Timur Slezko<span>presided over a number of high-profile cases against Ukrainian activists and journalists in Crimea.</span>

In particular, he presided over the fabricated “Yesipenko case” in March 2021.

Slezko also presided over the case of Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Balukh, who was convicted on trumped-up charges of possessing ammunition and TNT blocks. The judge reduced his sentence by only two months—from 3 years and 7 months in a penal colony to 3 years and 5 months. This was reported by the Crimean Human Rights Group.

Earlier,Nadiya Sobeshchanska,an occupation judge from Crimeawhobetrayed her oath and sided with the Russian occupiers,was sentenced to 11 years in prison.She was found guilty of high treason.

In addition, three former Ukrainian prosecutors from Crimea received prison terms ranging from 13 to 14 years for treason. Instead of leaving the peninsula after the occupation, they chose to pursue careers in the illegal prosecutorial bodies of the Russian Federation.

Ірина Глухова