Sentsov’s health “very weak”
The health of jailed Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been on a hunger strike for over 40 days in a Russian penal colony, is “very weak” and deteriorating, his lawyer says. Dmitry Dinze told RFE/RL on June 22 that Mr. Sentsov had lost almost 15 kilograms since he started the hunger strike on May 14, and was experiencing problems with his heart and kidneys. Mr. Dinze told the AP that, when he visited Mr. Sentsov on June 22, he was “very weak, very pale,” despite receiving vitamins and nutrients intravenously, and has dropped from 97 kilograms to 77 kilograms. Mr. Dinze said Mr. Sentsov’s condition abruptly deteriorated on the 26th day of his hunger strike, and the administration of the penal colony in the far-northern Yamalo-Nenets region had rushed him to a local hospital. The 41-year-old Mr. Sentsov, a Crimean native and vocal opponent of Russia’s 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula, was sentenced in 2015 to 20 years for conspiracy to commit terror acts. Mr. Sentsov and human rights groups say the charges were politically motivated. On May 14, he began a hunger strike, demanding the release of 64 Ukrainian citizens he considers political prisoners. Western governments and rights organizations have called for Mr. Sentsov to be released, and the Russian human rights group Memorial considers him to be a political prisoner. Several groups have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon Mr. Sentsov, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Ukrainian film director would have to ask for the pardon himself before it could be considered. Mr. Dinze said on June 22 that Mr. Sentsov would not submit a request for a pardon. “Oleh objects to being pardoned. He will not write anything to the president,” Mr. Dinze was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AP)
G-7 envoys ‘deeply concerned’ about Sentsov
Ambassadors of the Group of Seven (G-7) leading industrialized states say they are “deeply concerned” about the situation of film director Oleh Sentsov and “other Ukrainian prisoners and detainees” in Russia. “Their release, as part of a broader bilateral exchange of detainees, would be an important humanitarian step forward,” the countries’ ambassadors to Kyiv said in a joint statement released via Twitter on June 21. The G-7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, and the United States. Separately, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv urged Russia to act as the eyes of the international community were on the country that is hosting the World Cup soccer tournament. “With the world watching the World Cup, Russia should allow access to all Ukrainian prisoners, including film director Oleh Sentsov, who is in his 2nd month of a hunger strike in a Russian prison,” the Embassy tweeted. Ukrainian ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova, who traveled to Russia last week, has not been allowed to meet with Mr. Sentsov and other Ukrainians considered as political prisoners by Kyiv. Mr. Sentsov’s lawyer, Dmitry Dinze, who visited the imprisoned man on June 21, told Russian media that he had lost 13 kilograms, was drinking three and a half liters of water a day, and was currently in the Arctic prison’s medical center, where he is receiving nutrition through an IV drip. Mr. Dinze added that Sentsov was experiencing problems with his heart and kidneys and that he had briefly been hospitalized on the 26th day of his hunger strike, now in its 40th day. Earlier, the Russian state-run RIA Novosti news agency quoted Anatoly Sak, an ombudsman in the Siberian region, as saying he had visited Mr. Sentsov recently and that the activist was in satisfactory condition and alert. There was no way to independently confirm the comments. His lawyer also said that Mr. Sentsov had turned down a request by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to stop his hunger strike. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko spoke with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, via telephone on June 21, calling on him to allow Ms. Denisova access to the Ukrainian “hostages,” according to Ukraine’s presidential website. The Kremlin said that during the call, initiated by Kyiv, the sides touched on the topic of prisoner exchanges and visits by monitors from each country to the other’s prisons. On June 20, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe urged Russia to free him “on humanitarian grounds.” “If there is a need for a request for pardoning him, I would gladly do it on the basis of the European Convention of Human Rights,” Thorbjorn Jagland told Russian Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP)
Cyberpolice chief cites fear of massive strike
The head of Ukraine’s cyberpolice has claimed that Russian hackers are infecting computer systems of Ukrainian firms with malware to establish “back doors” for a large-scale coordinated attack. Serhiy Demedyuk told Reuters news agency that banks and energy infrastructure firms are among the targets of the alleged hackers; he added that Ukrainian police are working with foreign authorities to identify the culprits. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the allegations. “No, that is not true,” Mr. Peskov said in comments sent to Reuters by his office. Law enforcement and private security firms throughout the world are carefully monitoring threats in Ukraine, because the country was at the origin of some of the most serious cyberattacks in history. Some attacks have occurred on major Ukrainian holidays, and Mr. Demedyuk said another one could be launched on June 28 – Constitution Day – or on Independence Day on August 24. “Analysis of the malicious software that has already been identified and the targeting of attacks on Ukraine suggest that this is all being done for a specific day,” Mr. Demedyuk said. In June 2017 a virus dubbed NotPetya hit the country and disabled government departments and state companies before spreading to corporate networks around the globe, inflicting losses of billions of dollars. The United States and Britain joined Ukraine in blaming Russia for the NotPetya attack. Relations between Kyiv and Moscow are at an all-time low after Russia seized the Crimea region in 2014 and fomented separatism in eastern Ukraine, where more than 10,300 people have been killed in the ensuing war. Kyiv has accused Russia of being behind large-scale cyberattacks as part of a “hybrid war” against Ukraine. Moscow denies the accusations. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters)
Movenko expected to be released
A jailed Ukrainian activist is expected to be released after a court in Russian-controlled Crimea shortened and suspended his politically charged prison sentence. A court in Sevastopol ruled on June 26 that Ihor Movenko’s two-year prison sentence must be replaced by a one-year suspended sentence. Mr. Movenko’s lawyer, Oksana Zheleznyak, said she expected he would be released later that week. In early May, Mr. Movenko was convicted of promoting extremism and sentenced to two years in prison. The Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry protested the verdict and said it would work to secure Mr. Movenko’s release. Critics accuse the Russian authorities of fabricating charges against Ukrainian citizens as a reprisal for their opposition to Moscow’s takeover of the Black Sea peninsula. Russia seized Crimea in March 2014 after sending in troops, taking over key facilities, and staging a referendum deemed illegitimate by at least 100 countries in the United Nations. The takeover of Crimea and Russian support for separatists in eastern Ukraine prompted the United States, the European Union, and others to impose targeted sanctions against selected Russian individuals and companies. (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Senate resolution targets rights violators
On June 11, U.S. Helsinki Commission Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) introduced a bipartisan resolution in the Senate “urging President Trump to take action against some of the worst violators of religious freedom in Europe and Central Asia. Key targets of the legislation include the governments of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Russia, as well as Russian-led separatist forces in Ukraine,” the Helsinki Commission reported. ”S.Res.539 targets governments of participating states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that have not complied with specific OSCE commitments to respect fundamental human rights and freedoms, including religious freedom,” the Helsinki Commission stated. Among its proposed actions, the resolution urges President Donald Trump to designate Azerbaijan, Russia and Turkey as “Special Watch List Countries” for severe violations of religious freedom and to “block entry to the United States and impose financial sanctions on individual violators in these countries, including but not limited to …Kremlin officials responsible for Russia’s forcible, illegal occupation of Crimea; Russian-led separatist forces in Ukraine.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Seven arrested for attack on Roma camp
Seven people have been arrested in western Ukraine in connection with a deadly overnight attack on a Roma camp in a forest on the outskirts of Lviv, police say. Authorities say a 24-year-old Roma man from a village near the city of Rivne was killed in the attack, which was carried out by a group of masked men on June 23 just before midnight. Police say four other people were hospitalized with knife wounds as a result of the attack – including a 10-year-old boy, two 19-year-old men, and a 30-year-old woman. Seven suspects age 16 and 17 were arrested, as well as a 20-year-old accused of planning the attack, according to police. A criminal case was opened over the “deliberate murder committed by a group of people.” If convicted, the attackers could face up to 15 years in prison. The violence was the fifth attack on a Roma camp in western Ukraine in the past two months. In a joint letter to Kyiv authorities on June 24, four groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, condemned what they said was a growing number of attacks by radicals. Ukrainian authorities have “failed” to respond to most incidents, leading to “an atmosphere of near total impunity that cannot but embolden these groups to commit more attacks,” the groups said. The letter said that several neo-Nazi and far-right ultranationalist groups, including C14 and Right Sector, have been behind at least two dozen attacks or harassment cases against Roma across Ukraine so far during 2018. The Council of Europe, an international organization that aims to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law, estimates that there are some 260,000 Roma in Ukraine out of a population of about 48.5 million. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, with reporting by AFP)
Russian parties added to sanctions list
The government of Ukraine has added 30 legal entities and 14 individuals to its blacklist of those sanctioned over Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s backing of a separatist campaign in eastern Ukraine. The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine on June 22 posted that the list now includes 1,759 individuals and 786 legal entities. The new additions include Russian political parties and other institutions that were involved in the conduct of Russian elections in the annexed Ukrainian region of Crimea. The Russian Central Election Commission, the United Russia party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, the Russian Communist Party and others were among those added to the list. Russian oligarch Arkady Rotenberg and members of his family were also put on the blacklist. A number of Russian defense enterprises and the Luhansk Aircraft Maintenance Plant were also added. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Jailed Crimean Tatar’s mother on hunger strike
The mother of a jailed Crimean Tatar man says she has started a hunger strike, calling on the Russian authorities to release her son, who was convicted of terrorism charges. Raime Primova told RFE/RL that she started the hunger strike on June 20 after sending a request to Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) to demand her son, Nuri Primov, be freed. Ms. Primova said she was only drinking water and a doctor was monitoring her health. Mr. Primov was arrested in Russian-controlled Crimea in 2016 and later convicted of being a member of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group. Mr. Primov, who denied the charge, is serving a five-year sentence in a penal colony in the Russian republic of Mari El. Moscow’s takeover of Crimea in March 2014 was vocally opposed by many members of the Crimean Tatar population, who make up a sizable minority on the peninsula. Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they call a campaign of repression targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatars and others who opposed Moscow’s seizure of the peninsula. (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
U.S., IMF on anti-corruption court
The United States and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are praising Ukraine for enacting legislation to establish an independent anti-corruption court, but say more work is needed to complete the reforms and secure more IMF loans. In a statement issued late on June 20, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the measure signed into law on June 11 took “an important step towards achieving the European future [the Ukrainian] people demanded during the Revolution of Dignity” which toppled a pro-Russian government in 2014. But she said the Verkhovna Rada should now “quickly amend the law so the proposed court will be able to hear all cases under its jurisdiction, including existing corruption cases.” The Parliament should also “pass supplementary legislation to formally establish the court,” Ms. Nauert said, noting that IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde called for the same additional measures earlier this week. “These steps will ensure the court is able to help roll back the corruption that threatens Ukraine’s national security, prosperity, and democratic development,” Ms. Nauert said. Ms. Lagarde has linked further funding for Ukraine under the IMF’s $17.5 billion loan program to the anti-corruption reforms. She said late on June 19 that the enacted court legislation needed to be amended to ensure the court is effective. Ms. Lagarde said in a statement that she had spoken with President Petro Poroshenko and “we agreed that it is now important for Parliament to quickly approve… the necessary amendments to restore the requirement that the [anti-corruption court] will adjudicate all cases under its jurisdiction.” The IMF has said that political pressure and bribery remain significant problems in Ukraine, where it says entrenched corruption has deterred foreign investment and reduced Ukraine’s potential economic growth rate by about two percentage points a year. Establishing the anti-corruption court is one of three conditions that the IMF has laid down for Ukraine to receive further loans. The other two issues involve raising gas prices closer to market levels and honoring commitments to restrain budget spending. Ms. Lagarde said she and Mr. Poroshenko “also agreed to work closely together” on the gas price and budget issues. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters)