First judge sentenced in Ukraine for deportation of civilians from Crimea

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

A judge involved in the deportation of a Crimean from the temporarily occupied peninsula was sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia. This was the first such case in Ukraine.

"Following a public prosecution by the autonomy's prosecutor's office, a judge involved in the deportation of a Crimean from the temporarily occupied peninsula was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison. She was found guilty of violating the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the Crimea prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The agency said that after the occupation of the peninsula by Russia, the offender joined the illegally created judicial bodies and took the leading position of "the head of the Armiansk city court of the Republic of Crimea.” The woman was directly involved in the implementation of the criminal policy of the occupying power aimed at changing the demographic composition of the population in Crimea.

"The judge knew for certain that since 2014, Crimean residents have had the status of persons protected by international humanitarian law. Despite this, she decided to expel a citizen of Ukraine from the territory of the temporarily occupied peninsula," the agency emphasized. 

The prosecutor's office noted that the illegal decision was motivated by the alleged lack of permits and non-compliance with the rules of stay on Russia’s territory.

"However, no additional permits of the Russian occupation administration in Crimea for the residence of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territory of the peninsula are provided for by national legislation," the statement said.

According to the head of the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ihor Ponochovnyi, this case has become a kind of precedent in the national legal system. According to him, such work of Crimean law enforcement agencies destroys the myth of "impunity of the occupation authorities in Crimea.”

Earlier, the National Resistance Center reported that Russia is increasing pressure on the Crimean Tatars in Crimea: the number of arrests and the number of summonses issued have increased.

On March 29, in the occupation Kyiv District Court of Simferopol, a prosecutor requested 10 years in prison for Crimean Tatar Appaz Kurtamet for "financing an illegal armed group," namely the volunteer battalion "Crimea."