Ukrainian Balukh felt faint in the Crimean court

Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Balukh, who is judged on a devised charge by the authorities of occupied Crimea, suddenly felt faint during the court hearing and an ambulance was called. However, the judge decided to continue the consideration of the case.

As reported by Mikhail Batrak, activist of the Ukrainian Cultural Center.

“Just now, Volodymyr Balukh felt faint during the court hearing in Razdolnensky District “Court” and an ambulance was called, which took Balukh to the hospital after examining him”, – he wrote on his Facebook page.

However, according to Batrak, Balukh received an injection from the air pressure after which he got nauseous. Despite this, the doctor issued a certificate that the trial could continue and Balukh was taken to the court again.

Despite the request of Volodymyr and his lawyer to postpone the trial to the next day, the judge decided to continue the court hearing.

Olga Skrypnyk, Chairman of the Crimean Human Rights Group, explained in a commentary to the Hromadske that Balukh’s health has deteriorated during the period of his detention.

“Volodymyr Balukh’s state of health is constantly deteriorating since December 2016 after he was detained in SIZO (pre-trial detention centre). Not only has he lost weight, but his chronic diseases have worsened and new ones appeared. Overall, of course, it is all due to the terrible conditions in the SIZO, which is very damp. And now it’s very hot. This, of course, affects the heart, the air pressure. And it is hard to call food as healthy”, – she said.

Skrypnyk added that he was refused in a hospitalization.

“There was a case when he demanded hospitalization, but, of course, he was not transferred to the hospital. He received medical assistance only after the lawyer’s request and after the problem was highlighted in the mass media. He was put on a drip and provided with medications. But it is clear that the quality of these medications at best can only temporarily block the pain or remove the symptoms, but the number of diseases is growing”, – the human rights defender reported.

Earlier, human rights defenders have reported that Balukh is held in inhuman conditions in the Simferopol SIZO.

As a reminder, On December 8, 2016, FSB conducted searches in the house of Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Balukh and his mother in the village of Serebryanka, Razdolnensky district of Crimea. Volodymyr Balukh was detained after the searches. Law enforcers claimed that they have found ammunition and several TNT blocks were found in the attic.

On December 12 Razdolnensky District Court of Crimea has chosen a measure of restraint for Balukh in the form of detention for a month. The court disregarded the fact that the procedural documents were drafted with significant violations.

On March 2, it became known that the court extended the arrest of Balukh until June 4, 2017.

The persecution of Balukh has been going on since the spring of 2015 and the mass media reported about the trial against the activist since early 2016.

In December 2013, with the beginning of the Maidan, Volodymyr hung the Ukrainian flag on the roof of his house, which remained there after the occupation of Crimea by Russia. He openly declared his refusal to recognize the annexation.

On February 8, 2017, Russian human rights center Memorial stated that it considers Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Balukh, who was arrested in Crimea, to be political prisoner and demanded his immediate release.