Russian occupation authorities sentence Crimean political prisoners to more than 1,300 years of imprisonment

Emine Dzhaparova, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said this at the meeting of Platform for International Action on the Release of Ukrainian Political Prisoners by Russia.

Dzhaparova reported that today more than 140 citizens of Ukraine remain illegally arrested by Russia on politically motivated charges, and this number continues to grow.

According to her, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian criminal occupation authorities have sentenced Crimean political prisoners, whose total term of imprisonment is more than 1,300 years.

Emine Dzhaparova noted that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conducts appropriate information campaigns to constantly draw attention to the issue of Ukrainian political prisoners within the framework of high-level events, including demands for release of illegally imprisoned prisoners in resolutions and statements of international organizations.

"At the same time, we use more personalized approaches and projects. Implementation of a public advocacy mentoring initiative for citizen journalists illegally imprisoned by Russia continues. Advocacy mentors highlight the issue of illegal imprisonment of citizen journalists in Crimea, share posts on their pages in social networks and use their global popularity to draw attention to Ukrainian citizens illegally imprisoned by Russia," she added.

Relatives of political prisoners, representatives of government and parliament, leadership Crimean Tatar people Mejlis, and members of non-governmental public human rights organizations took part in the meeting.

Additional information: Platform for International Actions on the Release of Ukrainian Political Prisoners in Russian Federation is an informal mechanism initiated in July 2020 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. It aims to unite the efforts if government sector and civil society involved in the release of Ukrainian citizens illegally detained by Russia for political reasons.