The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine protests in connection with the baseless, politically motivated decision of the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don dated March 10, 2022, on the conviction on trumped-up charges to imprisonment of five citizens of Ukraine in the so-called case "the second Simferopol group Hizb ut-Tahrir."

"Along with the ongoing cynical and barbaric killings of the civilian population of Ukraine, the bombing of Ukrainian cities and other settlements, the regular disruption of agreements on the opening of humanitarian corridors, the destruction of critical infrastructure, the seizure of Ukrainian nuclear power plants and their personnel, the Russian Federation continues the shameful practice of political persecution of Ukrainian citizens who were illegally detained in the temporarily occupied territories of our state," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary on Friday.

The court verdict imprisoned public journalist of Crimean Solidarity Ramzi Bekirov and human rights activist Riza Izotov – for 19 years, Shaban Umerov – for 18 years, Raim Aivazov – for 17 years, and Farkhod Bazarov – for 15 years.

As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said, the mentioned citizens of Ukraine were detained on March 27, 2019 by security forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea during mass searches and detentions, and subsequently, with complete disregard for the fundamental norms of international humanitarian law, they were illegally transferred to Russia in the city of Rostov-on-Don, groundlessly accused by the Russian side, among other things, of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization.

"The judges' ignoring evidence that the defendants were not involved in the alleged actions, as well as not allowing lawyers and relatives to enter the territory of Russia to participate in the court session when passing the verdict, is additional evidence of the political motivation of the decision to deprive the citizens of Ukraine of their liberty," the commentary says.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the Russian Federation must immediately stop its atrocities in Ukraine, withdraw its armed forces, mercenaries, their weapons and equipment from the territory of Ukraine, and release all illegally convicted citizens of Ukraine, including Remzi Bekirov, Riza Izotov, Shaban Umerov, Raim Aivazov, and Farkhod Bazarov. It is also indicated that the Russian Federation and its military-political leadership should be held accountable for the internationally illegal acts committed in Ukraine, violation of international humanitarian law, mass crimes against civilians.

"We call on the international community to condemn the ongoing violations of international humanitarian law by Russia on the territory of Ukraine, the long-standing practice of political persecution of citizens of Ukraine who disagree with the occupation, and also to strengthen sanctions against the Russian Federation and its political leadership. We call on our partners to more resolutely support Ukraine, which today, at the cost of thousands of human lives, is protecting Europe from the spread of the 'Russian order' and Russian aggression. Closing the skies over Ukraine and strengthening the air defense system of our state will help end the humanitarian catastrophe caused by Russian armed aggression against the Ukrainian people as soon as possible," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.