Interpol refuses to detain Crimean MPs travelling Europe

Interpol refuses to detain the members of the Crimean parliament, who facilitated the annexation of the peninsula, as suspects for treason.

Acting Prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Nazar Kholodnytsky said this, the Human Rights Information Center correspondent reports.

“High treason is grave offense, but Interpol, pursuant to the Article 3 of its Constitution, believes that this offense is of political nature. And they are not involved in such offenses. It’s a scandal on the one hand, but this is law. This is international law. We did not write it, but we should obey it,” Nazar Kholodnytsky said, noting that the Prosecutor General’s Office has repeatedly received notifications that the suspect MPs are traveling Europe.

Once the list of the suspect MPs was made public, their lawyers, who claim to represent the interests of the suspects, have begun to come to the Prosecutor General’s Office.

“They concluded a contract somewhere. I ask, ‘where have you signed the contract with him?’ The lawyer responds it was signed in Kyiv. I say, “Did he visit Kyiv?’  Now they try to find out what criminal proceedings were opened against them. You see, they are disappointed. They waited for the paradise, but they haven’t got it. Those, who betrayed us, are now in the agony because no one likes traitors,” Kholodnytsky said.

Speaking of his former colleagues, who now work as the ‘prosecutors’ of the occupational authorities, Nazar Kholodnytsky mentioned that the Prosecutor General’s Office had announced 144 suspicion notices.

“Before annexation, the staff of the Crimean prosecutor’s office was nine hundred people. After Crimea was annexed, 144 people have moved to the territory of Ukraine. Their number will grow later. You know, suspicion should be reasonable. We should not say he is a traitor if he was there. We need to gather evidence. This is a long process. Now we have the first batch of suspect ‘prosecutors’, later we will have the second one,” Nazar Kholodnytsky noted.

He is sure that the majority of colleagues betrayed their homeland because of money. If Ukrainian prosecutors earned $500 as of March 2014, the Russian ones earned $2,000-2,500.

“There are the employees of the prosecutor’s office who resigned, not wanting to serve the occupational authorities. They’re engaged in different business now, from legal practice to selling food. I do not consider them to be traitors. However, there is a majority who was re-qualified to the Russian legislation, being tempted by high wages,” Kholodnytsky said.

He says that the ordinary people, who urged Russia to occupy the peninsula, will not be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, Adviser to the Information Policy Minister of Ukraine Serhiy Kostynsky called on the Crimean residents to cooperate with the Prosecutor General’s Office, submitting the evidence proving the crimes.

“I want to encourage the journalists and Crimean residents to cooperate with the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine and provide materials about crimes that may prove the involvement of certain individuals in violations of the Ukrainian legislation. This particularly applies to the residents of Crimea. If you record or have the opportunity to record these violations, submit these materials to us since the perpetrator is sure to bear responsibility for each such a fact,” Kostynsky said.

As a reminder, in July, the Justice Ministry of Ukraine called on the Ukrainians to report on violations of their rights in the occupied Crimea and Donbas, committed by the Russian Federation.