Volodymyr Kulbatskyi is a political prisoner
Ukrainian citizen who worked as a security guard in Russia sentenced to almost eight years in prison for allegedly having been a member of the Right Sector in his youth
Volodymyr Kulbatskyi, a citizen of Ukraine, lived in Rostov Oblast and worked as a security guard. He was detained in March 2022 and charged with participating in the activities of an extremist organization (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Russian Criminal Code) because, between 2014 and 2019, when he was living in Ukraine, he had interacted with the Right Sector. He was also charged with participating in an armed formation on the territory of a foreign state that was not provided for by the laws of that state, with the aim of acting against the interests of the Russian Federation (Part 2 of Article 208 of the Russian Criminal Code). According to the investigation, as a member of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, he had taken part in fighting against the forces of the “DPR People’s Militia.” Kulbatskyi denied this.
On October 26, 2022, a court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Volodymyr Kulbatskyi to seven years and 11 months in a maximum-security penal colony. On appeal, the sentence was amended, most likely without a significant change to the term.
We consider the prosecution of Kulbatskyi unlawful. The Right Sector was designated an extremist organization in Russia without sufficient grounds, for political and propaganda purposes. Kulbatskyi is a citizen of Ukraine; at the time of the alleged offenses, he lived in his own country, was subject to its laws, and cannot be prosecuted under provisions of the Russian Criminal Code. Under Ukrainian law, the Right Sector was not and is not a banned organization, while volunteer formations were legalized and integrated into state structures. Moreover, in our view, Ukrainians’ resistance to Russian aggression does not contradict the interests of the Russian Federation, as required by the wording of the charge brought against Kulbatskyi.
The indictment against Kulbatskyi states: “subsequently, he did not notify the authorities and law enforcement agencies of his participation in the activities of the ‘Right Sector’ and did not terminate such participation.” However, imposing on a Ukrainian citizen living in his own country a duty to “notify Russian authorities” about activities that were legal in his home country is a legal absurdity.
A detailed description of Volodymyr Kulbatskyi’s case and of our position is available on our website.
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