Pavlo Gryb, the Ukrainian political prisoner Hromadske

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland supported political prisoner Pavlo Gryb and called on Russia to release him immediately. The press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland reports this.

The Polish authority believes that the detaining of Gryb in Belarus is a ‘malicious kidnapping’, and the court procedure is the act of aggression.

Poland called on the Russian representatives to release prisoner Pavlo Gryb, sentenced to six years and other political prisoners as well.

“We call for the immediate release of Pavlo Gryb and other citizens of Ukraine, who are being illegally kept in the Russian Federation, to provide them with the necessary medical support and the possibility to contact their relatives. We also urge Russia to grant permissions for the Ukrainian consul to visit those persons”, the report said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly protested because of the unlawful decision of the North Caucasus Regional Military Court to sentence Pavlo Gryb.

On March 22, the Russian court sentenced Ukrainian Pavlo Gryb to six years in standard regime penal colony for terrorism. Pavlo Gryb announced a hunger strike.

As is known, Pavlo Gryb is the son of the former Ukrainian border guard Ihor Gryb. Russian special agency detained the 19-year-old boy on August 25, 2017, when he went to Gomel (Belarus) to meet his friend. Later, he was convoyed to Russia. The Russian law enforcers suspect Pavlo Gryb of preparing a terrorist attack at a school in Sochi (a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Black Sea coast, - 112 International).

Pavlo Gryb was not allowed to see his mother and the Ukrainian consul. Russia promises to give permission to the meeting with the consul, but only after the verdict. Yet, the consular convention signed between Ukraine and Russia does not provide for such refusal.

On March 21, Ukrainian political prisoner Pavlo Gryb delivered his last plea in the North Caucasus military court in Rostov-on Don, Russia.