Well-known Kyiv human rights activist sentenced to 14 years
Ukrainian human rights activist Elena Berezhnaya was found guilty of treason and sentenced to a long prison term.
This was reported by the publication “Court Reporter”, citing the verdict of the Solomensky District Court of December 10.
She is accused of sending a letter to the Russian representative to the UN containing facts about the infringement of national minorities in the country, the glorification of fascism, and the assessment of the events of 2014 as a coup and seizure of power.
She also recounted well-known facts about how, after the start of the Second World War, weapons were distributed uncontrollably in Kyiv, resulting in the murders of civilians suspected of working for Russia . Her letter was cited at the UN General Assembly session.
Berezhnaya did not admit her guilt.
"As stated in the verdict, Berezhnaya behaved aggressively, insulted and humiliated court secretaries, prosecutors, judges, and other participants in the trial, systematically disrupted order in the courtroom, shouted, swore, failed to respond to the court's orders, and repeatedly disrupted court hearings. As a result, she was repeatedly removed from the courtroom and therefore was not questioned ," the publication writes.
In court, she said that she heads the non-governmental organization “Irina Berezhnaya Institute of Legal Policy and Social Protection” (named after her daughter, a member of the Verkhovna Rada of previous convocations who died in a traffic accident), which cooperates with the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, PACE, ODIHR, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.
At the same time, she emphasized that she did not commit treason and did not receive any tasks from Russia.
The court did not accept her arguments that the SBU had falsified her correspondence.
"The court refused to base its verdict on the Russian Federation's response to the lawyer's inquiry , which stated that Berezhnoy had not been tasked with preparing and sending the letter for announcement at the eleventh session of the UN General Assembly," the report states.
She was ultimately sentenced to 14 years in prison with confiscation of property.
English version :: Read in English A well-known Kyiv human rights activist was sentenced to 14 years.