In the Russian Federation, after 10 years of imprisonment, political prisoner Andriy Kolomiyets has been released

In the Russian Federation, after 10 years of imprisonment, political prisoner Andriy Kolomiyets has been released

Political prisoner Andriy Kolomiyets was released after 10 years of imprisonment, but is currently in a deportation center in the Krasnodar region.

According to her, it is currently unknown how long her husband will be held in the deportation center in the city of Gulkevichi.

“Andriy called, telling that there are two guys from Kherson region there: one has been there for a year and a half, the other for 2.5 years. So far, there is complete uncertainty about when he will finally be released. I finally sent him proper things, clothes, and I plan to visit him soon,” the political prisoner’s wife said.

In the deportation centers in southern Russia, Ukrainian citizens who are awaiting deportation to their homeland are held for months and years. As reported by the media, after serving their sentence, Ukrainians remain effectively under arrest due to the prohibition to leave the deportation center, and their detention terms are extended each time. According to human rights activists, such practice is a gross violation of human rights.

As reported, Euromaidan activist Andriy Kolomiyets is a resident of the Kyiv region and never lived in Crimea. In 2014, he met his future wife Halyna online and traveled to her in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (RF). On May 15, 2015, Russian police officers detained the Ukrainian at her home.

He was subjected to brutal torture to extract confessions. As a result of the torture, Kolomiyets confessed to things he hadn’t done. After that, he was transferred to Crimea and accused of attacking “Berkut” officers. According to Kolomiyets’ defence, the only evidence of the accusation were two black-and-white photographs with a handful of ash allegedly from burned clothing of law enforcement officers.

On June 10, 2016, “judge of the Kyiv District Court” of Simferopol Mykhaylo Bilousov sentenced the Ukrainian to 10 years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony. He was accused of attempting to murder two former officers of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs unit “Berkut” during the events on Maidan in Kyiv under several articles of the Russian Criminal Code: Article 105 – murder of two or more persons (incomplete), Article 228 – possession of narcotics, Article 30 – attempt to commit a crime.

The General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine denied Andriy Kolomiyets’ involvement in attacks on the “Berkut”.

The Crimean Human Rights Group stated that the case is entirely fabricated and politically motivated.

In the Russian colony, Kolomiyets was sent to the isolation cell dozens of times for far-fetched reasons.