Defense lawyers for Ukrainian journalist Suschenko arrested in Russia seek political prisoner status for him

15:47, 13.10.2016 1 min read

The lawyers for Ukrainian journalist Roman Suschenko are conducting negotiations with Russian international human rights organizations on recognizing his status as a political prisoner, Mark Feygin, a defense lawyer for the Ukrainian, said.

"Today I am flying to the Vilnius Russia Forum. The release of Ukrainian journalist Suschenko will definitely become an issue for discussion... We are conducting negotiations with human rights organizations, Russian and international, on recognizing the status of Roman Suschenko as a political prisoner," the lawyer said on social networking sites on Thursday.

He also offered an 'exchange' to the Russian side: "I leave the Suschenko case and you [send him] to Ukraine."

As reported, the FSB detained Suschenko on alleged spying charges in Moscow, and the Lefortovsky District Court sanctioned Suschenko's arrest for two months on October 1.

Kyiv has qualified Suschenko's detention as provocation and said the spying charges are absurd.