In Crimea ill activist Balukh will not be transferred from detention center to hospital

An activist Balukh, who was arrested in the Crimea, is still located in the Simferopol Temporary Detention Centre, despite the significant deterioration in health.

As reported by Olga Skrypnyk, the coordinator of the Crimean Human Rights Group, in a comment to Krym.Realiyi.

According to her, on January 17, the activist had an aggravation of kidney disease, but as of January 19 he was not transferred to the hospital.

“He received medical assistance, and was put on a drip. Apparently, he had aggravation of kidney disease. Balukh remains in the detention centre. And was not transferred to the medical unit”, – said Skrypnyk.

Human rights defender also noted that Balukh’s lawyer will try to visit his client in order to “investigate and assess his state of health”.

In late December, human rights defenders reported that Balukh’s condition worsened in the detention centre, back pain has increased and chronic bronchitis has exacerbated.

At the same time, the Crimean Human Rights Group states that there are no grounds to keep Balukh in custody even according to the Russian legislation, which is de facto current in the Crimea.

Experts of the Crimean Human Rights Group indicate at the presence of major violations during the adoption of the resolution of the “Razdolnensky District Court of the Republic of Crimea”, dated December 27, 2016, on extension the term of detention of Volodymyr Balukh.

The court hearing on the extension of the preventive measure happened much earlier than a certain period with non-compliance with procedural laws. On December 12 “the court” has chosen a preventive measure for Balukh in a form of detention for a period of 30 days, until January 6, but two weeks later, on December 27, the court has extended the preventive measure until February 5, even before the term of custody of first decision has expired.

Decisions of the judge must be lawful, justified and lawful (Art. 7 part 7 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation). However, the judge Abelyashev’s decision is not.

According to the Ruling of the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation № 14 “On the Judicial Practice Concerning Application of the Legislation Regulating Pretrial Detention, House Arrest and Bail” of December 19, 2013, in the conditions of extension of the detention in a criminal case the courts must check at the time of consideration of this question if a accused, suspected: 1) will flee from the inquiry, from the preliminary investigation or from the court; 2) may continue the criminal activity; 3) may threaten the witness or other participants in the criminal court proceedings, or destroy the evidence, or interfere with the proceedings on the criminal case in any other way (Article 97 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation).

The existence of such circumstances can not be only conclusions of a judge, but must be confirmed with the evidence in court. But the court has not indicated the necessary argumentation, when basing its decision on the extension of the detention term of Balukh.

Moreover, the court is obliged to take into account the degree of gravity of the crime, information on the suspect’s or accused’s personality, his/her age, condition of health, marital status, occupation and other circumstances when making such decision (Article 99 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation). But these arguments are absent in the decision of the court. At the same time, the activist and his lawyer during the court hearing insisted to take into account the grounds, which are the basis for not extending the term of detention. Balukh needs to take care for his sick senior mother, his health has rapidly deteriorated in the detention centre, has a place of residence in the Crimea and others. However, the court ignored these arguments.

As a reminder, On December 8, 2016, FSB conducted a 4 hour search in the house of Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Balukh and his mother and “found” 90 rounds of ammunition and several TNT blocks in the attic of the Balukh’s house. Searches were conducted before, each time during the searches they took down the Ukrainian flag from his roof and seized it. There is reason to believe that the FSB officers planted the ammunition during the search in order to falsification of a new criminal case against the activist.

On December 12 Razdolnensky District Court of Crimea under control of Russian authorities has chosen a measure of restraint for Balukh in the form of detention for a period of 30 days. The court disregarded the fact that the procedural documents were drafted with significant violations and that on the content of Volodymyr is his old mother, who is 73 years old.

On December 14 investigator in the presence of a lawyer charged the Ukrainian under the part 1 of Art. 222 of the Criminal Code. Crimean does not agree with accusations and does not plead guilty.

On December 26 Crimean Human Rights Group reported that Balukh suffers from chronic bronchitis, which intensified in the crowded jail cell.