Italian Senate calls for release of Ukrainian political prisoners from Crimea
21 December 13:11
on December 18, an international event “System of Terror. Russian Occupation of Ukraine” was held at the Palace of Giustiniani, the headquarters of the Senate of Italy. Participants of the event emphasized that at least 486 people were convicted for political reasons in the occupied Crimea, and only 12 returned home as part of exchanges. The families of political prisoners called on Italy and international partners to increase pressure on Russia and to seek the immediate release of civilian hostages.
This was reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center on December 21, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
During the event, the sister of the Crimean political prisoner, former Ukrainian soldier Serhiy Lykhomanov, Tatiana Zelena, spoke about the abduction of her brother in Crimea two years ago.
She also spoke about the psychological trauma of his three-year-old daughter, who witnessed the arrest, and about the torture and illegal sentence of 15 years in prison. Currently, Likhomanov is being held in Taganrog without access to lawyers and medical care.
Zelena also mentioned other Ukrainians illegally imprisoned by Russia: Rustem Gugurik, Serhiy Tsygipa, Konstantin Maksimov, Viktor Bondarenko, and Konstantin Zinovkin.
According to her, these and thousands of other Ukrainians today are part of the “wall” that protects the freedom of Europe at the cost of their own freedom and lives.
The participants of the event emphasized that the issue of Ukrainian civilian hostages should be a priority on the international agenda, and any political decisions on the war should begin with the release of illegally detained persons.
They called on the Italian Senate to recognize the FSB, FSIN and Rosgvardia as terrorist organizations and to appeal to the Russian Foreign Ministry to demand the immediate release of all Ukrainian civilian hostages held since 2014.
“Peace is neither occupation nor imprisonment of civilians. Peace is the return home of our children, civilian and military,” said Tetyana Zelena.
The event also featured a presentation of a documentary by Yevhenia Chyrykova, “Prisoners: The System of Terror”.
