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Not so long ago, it was 11 years since the occupation of Ukrainian Crimea began – when a neighbour, when it was still a neighbour, which had long before provided international guarantees of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, insidiously stabbed a neighbouring state in the back, occupied Ukrainian territory and committed numerous war crimes.
For me personally, Crimea is something more than Ukrainian land. More than autonomy. I started my professional career there as an assistant prosecutor and investigator. There I acquired practical skills in human rights protection in the police, prison and probation. It was there that I realised how thorny the Ukrainian path to the rule of law would be.
But even then, I had a keen sense of Russian revenge, given the dominance of pro-Russian views in the local government and law-enforcement bodies. The case of the arson of the Mejlis was very painful, when I had to ‘call in sick’ on the police because of the systematic sabotage of instructions to intensify the pre-trial investigation into the crime.
However, I can say that my first practical experience in Crimea gave me an understanding of what torture is and why this disgusting phenomenon exists and continues to spread. In fact, Crimea already changed my attitude to torture: from rational actions aimed at obtaining confessions from suspects to often irrational actions that only hide the rationality of obtaining an illegal result such as extracting confessions, informal punishment or intimidation.
At the time, I could not imagine that the scope and scale of torture in Crimea would be what it became after February 2014, because at that time there was a psychological limit that such things could not happen in principle. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The Russian occupiers not only took control of part of the territory of Ukraine. They brought a practice of torture, arbitrary detention and extrajudicial executions that Crimea has never seen before.
So today, I have the great pleasure to introduce to the audience a person who, in fact, needs no introduction, namely the Head of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Mr Igor Ponochovnyi.
I do hope that this short material, kindly provided by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, will be read not only by Ukrainians, but also by our foreign partners and all those who are hesitant to become them.
My personal message as a human being and a Ukrainian is to remind you that a policy of tolerating the actions of the aggressor is to assist the aggressor.
The level of tolerance for torture that the Russian occupation of Ukrainian Crimea has caused cannot but have consequences. At the same time, I would like to remind you that the crimes of torture have no statute of limitations, pardons or amnesties. That is why the work of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol is not just standard legal procedures, pre-trial investigations, proving and defending the prosecution’s case in court. From the point of view of the future of the Ukrainian state, it is an infinitely important contribution to preserving historical memory and ensuring absolute intolerance to torture, which, in my opinion, is one of the pillars of the criminal justice system of any democratic state.
Russian aggression and the subsequent occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea brought a wave of repression and extrajudicial executions to the peninsula. Reshat Ametov became the first victim.
On 03 March 2014, on the square near the building of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Simferopol, Reshat Ametov was insidiously abducted, forcibly placed in a car and taken to the headquarters of the illegal armed group called the ‘Self-Defence of Crimea’. This was the last place where the victim’s mobile terminal was working. Unfortunately, Reshat’s body with signs of violent death and torture was found two weeks later near the village of Zemlianychne, Belogorsk district of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Investigative Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol is conducting a pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings on the abduction and premeditated murder of Reshat Ametov on the grounds of criminal offences under Part 3 of Article 146, Part 2 of Article 260, Part 2 of Article 438, Part 1 of Article 111, Part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
During the pre-trial investigation, evidence was obtained that the abduction of Reshat Ametov was carried out by three persons: two members of the illegal armed group ‘Crimean Self-Defence’ under the leadership of a former serviceman of the Russian Armed Forces, who were served with a notice of suspicion on 22 August 2019 under part. 2 of Art. 260 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (participation in the activities of an illegal armed group) and Part 3 of Art. 146 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal deprivation of liberty by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, which caused grave consequences).
On 29 September 2023, two members of the illegal armed group ‘Crimean Self-Defence’ were served a new notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Trespass against the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine by prior conspiracy by a group of persons) and Part 1 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (High treason). On the same day, a former serviceman of the Russian Armed Forces was served a new notice of suspicion under Part 2 Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine[1].
In addition, it was established that after committing this crime, one of the suspects left the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and took part in hostilities as part of the terrorist organisation ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’, and then committed a similar crime related to the organisation of the abduction of three officers of the Alpha special unit of the Security Service of Ukraine in April 2014.
The first Ukrainian soldier in Crimea to be killed by Russian aggressors was Warrant Officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Kokurin[2].
Thus, on 18 March 2014, representatives of the ‘self-defence of Crimea’ and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a forcible seizure of the military unit A3674, located in Simferopol, Crimea. During the seizure, a serviceman of this military unit, Serhiy Kokurin, who was on duty in the park and was on an observation tower, was fatally wounded.
Investigations are ongoing into the facts of negligent homicide, intentional medium and grievous bodily harm, unlawful obstruction of rallies in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine with the use of physical violence, beating of citizens on 26 February 2014 near the building of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as the unlawful persecution of participants of a pro-Ukrainian rally on the grounds of criminal offences under Art. 1 of Art. 438, Art. 119, Art. 121, Art. 122, Art. 340, Art. 146, Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (the so-called ‘26 February case’), the occupation law enforcement and judicial authorities were notified of suspicion, namely five employees of the ‘Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Crimea’, three employees of the ‘Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea’ and nine ‘judges of the Republic of Crimea’ under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
On 08 July 2021, the materials of the said criminal proceedings were singled out from the materials of the criminal proceedings on suspicion of three ‘judges’ of the ‘Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea’, who, as part of the judicial panel, in violation of the requirements of Articles 13, 27, 64, 65, 147 of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12.08.1949, considered the criminal case in the manner prescribed by the procedural legislation of the Russian Federation, during which they violated the right to a fair and official trial of Ahtem Chiygoz, in committing a criminal offence, as defined by the procedural legislation of the Russian Federation.
In particular, the said judges biasedly and not objectively assessed the collected evidence, which should have been based solely on the law, which subsequently established the grounds for finding Ahtem Chiygoz guilty of a criminal offence that he did not actually commit, and in violation of the provisions of Part 4 of Article 75 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), Ahtem Chiygoz was not provided with all the necessary rights and remedies during the trial, was not granted the right to a trial in his presence and was found guilty of committing an offence under Part 1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, i.e. organising mass disorders accompanied by violence and damage to property, and in fact – for participating in a pro-Ukrainian rally near the building of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea on 26 February 2014.
Within the framework of this criminal proceeding, a court order for a special pre-trial investigation was obtained and the indictment was sent to court on 12 October 2021. The indictment is being considered by the Dniprovskyi District Court of Kyiv.
In addition, since 2014, investigations have been ongoing in 9 criminal proceedings into the enforced disappearance of 13 people.
For example, on 27 September 2014, at around 19:00, unidentified persons in uniform abducted two residents of the peninsula, namely Islyam Dzhepparov and Dzhavdet Islyamov, in Belogorsk and took them in a minibus to an unknown destination. To date, their whereabouts have not been established.
Also, on 07 March 2014, in cynical violation of the Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, representatives of the illegally created armed group ‘Self-Defence of Crimea’, which was created to support the occupation authorities, committed deliberate acts against Ivan Bondar and Valeriy Vashchuk. Currently, their whereabouts have not been established.
On 14 March 2014, representatives of the illegally created armed group ‘Self-Defence of Crimea’ committed intentional acts against Vasyl Chernysh. His whereabouts have not yet been established.
On 26 May 2014, Timur Shaimardanov went missing.
On 30 May 2014, Seyran Zinedinov went missing.
The abductions continued on 27 August 2015 in Simferopol, where two persons dressed in police uniforms forced Mukhtar Arislanov into a minibus and took him to an unknown destination. His whereabouts have not yet been established.
On 03 October 2015, Eskander Apselyamov left his place of temporary residence in Simferopol and did not return.
Ruslan Ganiev and Arlen Terekhov went missing in Kerch.
On 11 April 2016, after arriving at the bus station in Saki, the contact with Arsen Aliyev, who had left Bakhchisaray for Saki, AR of Crimea (Ukraine), was lost.
On 24 May 2016, in Bakhchisarai, unidentified persons, using physical force, dragged Erwin Ibragimov, a member of the Executive Board of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars, into a car and took him to an unknown destination. To date, his whereabouts have not been established.
Regarding torture, a total of 26 criminal proceedings on the facts of torture and inhuman treatment are being conducted by law enforcement agencies under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.
As part of the pre-trial investigation, the facts of torture of victims with the use of sexual violence against them are being investigated.
In May 2014, representatives of the occupation “law enforcement” agencies detained Sentsov O.G., Kolchenko O.O., Afanasyev G.S., Chirnyi O.M., allegedly for organising and committing a terrorist act and preparing to commit terrorist acts. Subsequently, the latter were subjected to unlawful methods of interrogation, including torture. The victims were transferred from Simferopol to Moscow and sentenced by the North Caucasian Military Court of Rostov to 20 years‘ imprisonment, Oleg Sentsov to 10 years’ imprisonment, and Chirnyi and Afanasyev to 7 years’ imprisonment each.
In addition, under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, criminal proceedings are being investigated under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the fact of the deprivation of liberty of Andrii Zakhtei by representatives of illegally established law enforcement agencies in the temporarily occupied territory of the Crimean peninsula, who illegally detained the victim in Simferopol from 8 to 11 August 2016, forcing him to provide false testimony against himself through the use of violence and torture.
At the same time, a pre-trial investigation is underway in the criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the fact of the illegal detention of Yevhen Panov, who was abducted by representatives of the so-called law enforcement agencies on 6 August 2016 in Simferopol, subjected to violence and torture because of his pro-Ukrainian public position.
In addition, a pre-trial investigation was carried out in criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 111, Part 1 of Article 162, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the facts of the illegal search and subsequent detention of O.Y. Mikhailovsky by the Russian Federal Security Service on 30 August 2016 in Yevpatoriya and his torture to confess to crimes he did not commit, but in fact for his pro-Ukrainian position, which is a violation of the laws and customs of war provided for by international treaties ratified by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. On 27 September 2023, three FSB officers were notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 111, Part 1 of Article 162, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and on 31 January 2024, the indictment against them was sent to court.
Also, a pre-trial investigation is underway in criminal proceedings under Articles 146(1), (2), (2), (162), (1), (151), (1), (438) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on the facts of the illegal search and detention of D.A. Minadirov by officers of the ‘Special Forces of the Russian Federal Security Service in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol’, who subsequently unlawfully imprisoned him and tortured him in order to obtain false confessions to crimes.
On 28 June 2024, one of the officers of the Russian FSB in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol was served a notice of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and another – under Part 1 of Article 162, Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. On 06 November 2024, the materials of the pre-trial investigation in relation to these persons were separated into separate proceedings, in which they were served additional suspicion notices under Part 1 Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
With the support of the public prosecution by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomy, the Podilskyi District Court of Kyiv of 19 December 2022 convicted representatives of the ‘FSB of Russia in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol’, A.R. Shambazov and A.V. Tishenin, for committing a criminal offence under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, who in February 2015 abducted and tortured O.F. Kostenko, a participant of the Revolution of Dignity, to make him confess to committing ‘crimes’ on the Independence Square in Kyiv.
Under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, in January 2023, an indictment was submitted to the court on charges of I.M. Bezler under Part 1 of Article 438, Part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, who in March 2014 used torture, inhuman treatment and arbitrary detention in the premises of the military commissariat in Simferopol against many Automaidan activists. By the verdict of the Solomianskyi District Court of Kyiv of 20 February 2024, Bezler was found guilty and sentenced in absentia to 12 years‘ imprisonment under Part 1 of Article 438, Part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, and sentenced under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to 12 years’ imprisonment, and released under Part 2 of Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine due to the expiration of the statute of limitations for bringing to criminal responsibility.
The work on documenting the facts of torture on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is ongoing. The Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomy is doing everything to ensure that no crime is left without a response provided for by law, and that every occupier or their accomplice who has committed crimes receives a well-deserved punishment in accordance with the law.
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol is trying to restore historical justice and draw the attention of the international community to the actual state of affairs on the peninsula, whose residents are under the pressure of torture and fear brought to Ukrainian land by the occupiers.
[1] The materials of the pre-trial investigation in relation to these three persons were separated from the main criminal proceedings and on 30 October 2023, an indictment charging these persons with criminal offences under Part 2 of Art. 260, Part 3 of Art. 146, Part 2 of Art. 110 and two of them additionally under Part 1 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine was sent to court.
[2] Currently, the Main Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine is conducting a pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings on the fact of Mr Kokurin’s fatal injury.
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