18:41 03.01.2019

Denisova asks Russian ombudswoman, Russian penitentiary service chief to report whereabouts of political prisoner Panov

2 min read
Denisova asks Russian ombudswoman, Russian penitentiary service chief to report whereabouts of political prisoner Panov

Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova has appealed to Russian officials requesting information about the whereabouts of Ukrainian political prisoner Yevhen Panov, who is being transferred from a pretrial facility in Simferopol to another incarceration facility.

"Vera Kotelianets, Panov's mother, contacted me yesterday. Panov has been transferred from one pretrial facility to another for a long time, and she is worried about the lack of communication with him," Denisova said on Facebook on Thursday.

Denisova said she contacted Russian Ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova, Director of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Gennady Korniyenko and advisor to Ukraine's Charge d'Affaires in Russia Vasyl Pokotylo with a request to report Panov's whereabouts.

A court in Crimea on July 13, 2018, sentenced Panov to eight years in a high-security prison. The Zaporizhia region native was found guilty of several crimes: "illegal possession and transportation of weapons and ammunition," "attempt to buy contraband weapons and ammunition," "preparation for sabotage as a member of an organized group." Panov denied all the charges.

Born in Energodar, Panov worked as bus driver at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant.

According to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), on August 7-8, 2016, FSB agents prevented several attempts by saboteurs to enter Crimea from Ukraine. A Russian military and a special service officer were killed.

The FSB alleges Panov was an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and one of the leaders of the saboteurs. He first confessed, but later said he did so under torture. Ukraine's Defense Ministry refuted information about the detention of its employees in Crimea.

AD
AD
AD
AD