Russia leaves Ukrainian citizen kidnapped in Belarus behind bars
belsat.eu
21 March 2018, 18:03
An appeal by Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Gryb who was abducted in Belarus in August has been reviewed on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian has been behind bars for 7 months. FSB investigators exert psychologically pressure on Pavlo, his health condition has deteriorated, his father Igor Gryb said on Facebook.
Pavlo Gryb is deprived of correspondence and meetings with his family and lawyer.
Igor Gryb, who managed to take a picture of the son in a cage, was withdrawn from the courtroom.
In late August, the citizen of Ukraine went missing in the Belarusian city of Homiel. As it emerged later, Russia blacklisted him as a ‘terrorist’ for his criticizing the Kremlin’s policy on the Internet. In Homiel he met with the 17-year-old girl from Sochi who later confessed that the FSB exerted pressure on her. Later, Pavlo Gryb was ‘found’ arrested in Russia’s Krasnodar.
According to the Russian side, 19-year-old Pavlo Gryb asked his acquaintance from Sochi to go off a bomb at a school assembly in Sochi. Ukraine says that the charge has been forged.
After a massive public outcry and diplomatic note, the Belarusian State Border Committee admitted the fact of his border crossing on August 24 and said Pavlo Gryb had not violated anything. According to a Krasnodar court, the arrest warrant was issued on August 17 (i.e., before Pavlo Gryb crossed the Belarus-Ukraine border), when he was put on the international wanted list.
21 March 2018, 18:03
“On March 20, the Russian court remanded political prisoner Pavlo Gryb in custody until May 4. Сщтекфкн ещ the laws Gryb’s mother was not allowed to visit her son. We are demanding Pavlo Gryb’s release,” Spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Mariana Betsa said on Twitter.
The Ukrainian has been behind bars for 7 months. FSB investigators exert psychologically pressure on Pavlo, his health condition has deteriorated, his father Igor Gryb said on Facebook.
Pavlo Gryb is deprived of correspondence and meetings with his family and lawyer.
“Pavlo’s exhaustion is ill-disguised. He was to have had an operation in September, 2017. Nobody knows how much time he will last in such conditions,” the father stressed.
Igor Gryb, who managed to take a picture of the son in a cage, was withdrawn from the courtroom.
In late August, the citizen of Ukraine went missing in the Belarusian city of Homiel. As it emerged later, Russia blacklisted him as a ‘terrorist’ for his criticizing the Kremlin’s policy on the Internet. In Homiel he met with the 17-year-old girl from Sochi who later confessed that the FSB exerted pressure on her. Later, Pavlo Gryb was ‘found’ arrested in Russia’s Krasnodar.
According to the Russian side, 19-year-old Pavlo Gryb asked his acquaintance from Sochi to go off a bomb at a school assembly in Sochi. Ukraine says that the charge has been forged.
After a massive public outcry and diplomatic note, the Belarusian State Border Committee admitted the fact of his border crossing on August 24 and said Pavlo Gryb had not violated anything. According to a Krasnodar court, the arrest warrant was issued on August 17 (i.e., before Pavlo Gryb crossed the Belarus-Ukraine border), when he was put on the international wanted list.
