Global human rights organization Amnesty International has condemned Russia for upholding the lengthy sentences of Ukrainian prisoners Stanislav Klykh and Mykola Karpyuk.
On Oct. 26, Moscow’s Supreme Court upheld a 22-year jail sentence for Karpyuk and 20 for Klykh. Both were convicted for allegedly killing Russian soldiers in Chechnya in the 1990s.
“Russia’s case against these men defies reason. The numerous fair trial violations and the unconvincing prosecution evidence all point to a fabricated case. They were denied access to their lawyers of choice and allege that their confessions were forced from them as a result of torture,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Regional Office director.
Dalhuisen says Moscow’s Supreme Court failed to “correct this blatant travesty of justice” and instead “upheld the prosecution case in this propaganda-driven trial show.”
Klykh and Karpyuk were not given the right to choose their lawyers for several months after their arrest and claim they were tortured into confessing. Klykh said he was hung from bars in his cell, forced to drink vodka until he lost consciousness, subjected to electric shocks and kept in solitary confinement for over a year. In a recent video, he appeared to be visibly shaken and failed to recognize his own relatives.
“To ignore Stanislav Klykh’s medical condition, despite the evidence demonstrating his vulnerability, is cruel and inhuman,” said Dalhuisen.
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