An occupation judge from Crimea was sentenced to 10 years for deporting a Ukrainian

A Ukrainian court has handed down a verdict against a judge from the Yevpatoria City Court in Crimea, which was illegally established by Russia. She was found guilty of a war crime for ordering the deportation of a Ukrainian citizen.

This is stated in the verdict of the Desnianskyi District Court of Kyiv.

According to the case file, the judge remained in Crimea after it was seized by Russian troops. Starting in 2017, she began working in an illegally established judicial body and issuing rulings on behalf of and in the interests of the Russian Federation.

One such decision concerned the deportation of a Ukrainian citizen who lived in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and refused to leave after the peninsula’s occupation.

The formal basis for the decision was the “alleged engagement by the foreign national in illegal employment on the territory of the Russian Federation.”

Under international humanitarian law, Ukrainian citizens are legally present in occupied Crimea. They do not require additional residence permits from the occupying administration.

These norms also prohibit the forced deportation of people from occupied territory, regardless of the motives. This prohibition applies to both individual and mass deportations. The court found that the defendant’s actions constituted a gross violation of these rules.

The court sentenced the judge to 10 years in prison. The verdict was handed down in absentia, as part of a special judicial proceeding.

Ірина Глухова