Russia rejects all proposals to extradite Crimean prisoners to Ukraine – Ukrainian Ombudsperson
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Valeria Lutkovska says that her Russian colleague has rejected all proposals to extradite Ukrainian citizens from the prisons in annexed Crimea.
This is reported by the Ombudsperson’s press service.
Earlier, Russian Ombudsperson Tatiana Moskalkova said that the Ukrainian party refused to accept those people.
In response, Lutkovska stated that the newly appointed Russian Ombudsperson had not yet had time to examine the matter.
“Mrs. Moskalkova, probably, has not yet acquainted with all the details of our initiatives, including with participation of international organizations, which we have been offering to implement for two years already to extradite persons from places of detention in the occupied Crimea,” reads the statement of Valeria Lutkovska.
She recalled that “the proposals were either rejected by predecessor of Moskalkova, Ella Pamfilova, or the use of unacceptable norms of international law was offered that would mean the Ukraine’s recognition of Russian jurisdiction in Crimea.”
Valeria Lutkovska notes that the situation is complicated because the majority of prisoners had forcibly obtained the citizenship of Russia and was later moved to remote regions of Russia.
However, she welcomes the fact that the representatives of the Russian Federation have realized it is inhumane to hold citizens of Ukraine on the occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Ukrainian Ombudsperson expressed her full readiness to launch active measures to extradite the prisoners from the occupied Crimea.
“I take this opportunity to re-send a draft memorandum on the introduction of ad hoc mechanism for the extradition of persons from the territory of Crimea to the mainland Ukraine,” she said.
As reported, the Ukrainian human rights activists read out the letter from Crimean prisoners, who asked senior officials to find ways to return them to the mainland Ukraine.
