A court in the town of Kopeysk, Russia's Chelyabinsk region, has refused to transfer Ukrainian political prisoner Oleksandr Kolchenko from imprisonment in a colony to correctional labor.
A visiting court hearing at colony No. 6 in Kopeysk declined to meet Kolchenko's petition, referring to his violations of the colony's rules and penalties, the Hromadske news outlet said.
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Kolchenko had asked to transfer him to correctional labor instead of imprisonment because of the need to support his unemployed mother. He also cited his own health issues.
"Due to her age, she really needs my moral, physical and – what is important – financial support. I am young and hardworking. I want and can continue further education and work. I am not afraid of physical labor. Instead of living at the expense of taxpayers, I could support myself," the political prisoner said.
Kolchenko said penitentiary community service was "one of the possible steps towards adaptation in society."
UNIAN memo. Kolchenko was detained by Russian special services in Russia-occupied Crimea together with Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov in May 2014. They were charged with organizing terrorist attacks on the peninsula.
In August 2015, the North Caucasian District Military Court in Russia's Rostov-on-Don sentenced Kolchenko to 10-year imprisonment, while Sentsov's sentence was 20 years in a maximum security colony. Both pleaded not guilty.
