Volodymyr Balukh, arrested Crimean, politial prisoner Open source

Resident of the Russian-annexed Crimea Volodymyr Balukh who raised the Ukrainian flag over his house might face five years-long imprisonment. Crimean Human Rights Watch Group reported that on Facebook.

Crimean ‘prosecutor’ Korolev asked the court to assign punishment in Balukh’s case – five years in jail and one month in penal colony, the human rights activists posted. According to them, Balukh is charged with illegal service of ammunition and explosives.

In December 2013, when the Euromaidan movement began in Ukraine, Balukh supported its activists and hoisted a Ukrainian flag over his house. It remained there – even after the so-called referendum in Crimea in spring 2014, when people were forced to vote for Crimea’s recognition as part of the Russian Federation. Balukh said he never recognized the peninsula as part of Russia.

Volodymyr Balukh was detained by the Russian FSB, federal security service, in his house in Serebryanka village (Crimea) in December 2016. The law enforcers said they found 90 cartridges and several TNT blocks on the house’s rooftop. The man’s relatives say the ammunition and explosives were flaked by the FSB. The court arrested him until early February 2017 and then extended the time until September.

Balukh said he had chronic bronchitis, which got worse in the prison cell.