Russia unreasonably refused to extradite Sentsova and Kolchenko – Ministry of Justice
Russia has unreasonably refused to extradite Ukrainians Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko, who are illegally detained, as they are considered to be citizens of Russia.
As reported by Serhiy Petukhov, the Deputy Justice Minister of Ukraine on European Integration, on his Facebook page.
“This “citizenship” was forcibly imposed on all residents of Crimea together with the annexation of Crimea. Both of these Russian actions are void under international law”, – wrote Petukhov.
According to him, Ukraine must strive for returning their political prisoners with the help of international organizations, who have impact on Russia, as well as in the framework of lawsuits filed in the European Court of Human Rights.
As a reminder, on August 25, 2015, the North Caucasus Military Court in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don sentenced Crimean residents Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian director from Simferopol, and Oleksandr Kolchenko to 20 and 10 years in a penal colony respectively for alleged “plotting acts of terrorism.”
Both Oleksandr Kolchenko and Oleg Sentsov deny their guilt. Human rights organizations consider the charges baseless and politically motivated.
In the spring of 2016, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine at the request of Kyiv instructed the Federal Penitentiary Service to prepare the packages of documents for extradition of Sentsov and Kolchenko to their homeland. In April they filled all the documents necessary for extradition.
In October, the Ministry of Justice of Russia stated that the extradition of Sentsov and Kolchenko is impossible, due to their Russian citizenship, which they allegedly received after the annexation of Crimea.
