Ukraine calls on Russia to stop repressions in Crimea
Mariana Betsa, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry, posted on Twitter that Ukraine reminds Russia of its reponsibility to put an end to the repression in annexed Crimea.
"December 10th is a Human Rights Day. We demand that the Russian Federation stop repressions in the occupied Crimea and release all political prisoners and illegally detained persons," Betsa said.
President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said on International Human Rights Day that "the criminal aggression of Russia continues to cripple people’s lives in the occupied Crimea and in the Donbas."
In December 2017, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Valeriya Lutkovska discussed with Russian human rights commissioned Tatyana Moskalkova the situation regarding protection of the rights of Ukrainian political prisoners.
The Crimean Human Rights Group claims that, following the annexation of Crimea by Russia, at least 70 people were unlawfully deprived of their liberty as part of politically motivated criminal cases.
According to experts, if there were 5 persons in jail for "politically motivated" cases in the 2nd quarter of 2014, then at the beginning of the 4th quarter of 2017 this figure increased eleven-fold, amounting to 55 persons.