Kolchenko’s lawyer cannot visit him in remand prison

Lawyer Svetlana Sidorkina was not allowed to visit her client, Crimea resident Oleksandr Kolchenko, who stays in the remand prison No.4 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

Sidorkina announced this at the briefing in Kyiv.

“According to the remand prison staff, there was the investigating day yesterday and there were no free rooms. I cannot say whether that was objective or artificial reason,” she said.

Sidorkina said that she considered that wording to be “improper and illegal.”

“A lawyer has the right to visit the client at any time and within the framework allowed by law. Unfortunately, our remand prisons, which are subject to the Federal Security Service, put themselves above the law and act as they think fit,” the lawyer added.

November 24, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation will consider the appeal of Ukrainians Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko, convicted in Russia.

As a reminder, the Russian court accused Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko of terrorist activities in the territory of Crimea. Sentsov was sentenced to 20 years in high-security prison, Kolchenko – to 10 years.

Earlier, other defendants in this case, Crimean resident Gennady Afanasyev and Alexei Chirny, were detained and convicted in Russia.

As a reminder, the Human Rights Information Center reported that Sentsov could not file the lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights.