Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned an illegal and politically motivated ruling by a Kremlin-controlled court in the city of Sevastopol against Ukrainian citizen Ihor Movenko.
"The shameful decision by the so-called 'court' on May 4, which sentenced [Movenko] to two years in prison for his comments in social media, labeled by Russian invaders as 'extremism,' is evidence of growing repression and intimidation on the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula," the ministry said in a statement.
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The ministry demands that Russia stop the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Also, it must immediately release Movenko and other illegally detained Ukrainian citizens.
The Foreign Ministry once again emphasizes that Russia must cease the illegal occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. It is also obliged to fully implement the resolutions of the UN General Assembly on "Territorial Integrity of Ukraine" of March 27, 2014 and "The situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine) of December 19, 2016 and December 19, 2017. It should also abide by the order of the International Court of Justice on preventive measures within Ukraine's lawsuit against the Russian Federation on the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
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"The critical situation with human rights in the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula reveals the need to strengthen international political, diplomatic and economic pressure on Moscow in order to stop repression and harassment on the temporarily occupied territory, as well as to restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within the internationally recognized borders," the ministry added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Sevastopol's Kremlin-controlled Gagarinsky District Court on May 7 sentenced 40-year-old Ihor Movenko to two years in prison for making "public calls to carry out extremist activities" over a comment on the occupation of Crimea he made for the "Crimea-Ukraine" community in Russia's VKontakte social network.
Human rights activists noted that the case against Movenko was opened in October 2017 after he had sought an investigation into an attack on him by a former Ukrainian Berkut riot police officer.
