Resident of Crimea to be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for hanging Ukrainian flag over his house
The authorities want to sentence Crimean activist, Vladimir Balukh, to five years in prison for hanging the Ukrainian flag over his house, as reported by a Crimean human rights group on Facebook.
"Today, on August 1st, at a court hearing on Balukh’s case, the prosecutor, Korolyov, asked for a sentence of five years and one month in a prison colony," the statement said.
This term is in accordance with the criminal code of Russia. The Ukrainian activist is charged under Part 1 of Article 222 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, or carrying of weapons, its main parts or ammunition) and Part 1 of Article 222.1 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, or carrying of explosives or explosive devices).
As of 16:30 on August 1st, the Razdolnensky District Court finished hearing the case. During the debate, defenders spent more than an hour providing evidence of Balukh’s innocence. The prosecutor, Korolyov, in turn, spent just one minute. He said that, in his opinion, guilt has been fully proved. The "court" will make a decision on August 4th.
Vladimir Balukh is a resident of Serebryanka in the Razdolnensky district of the Crimea. After the annexation of the peninsula, he publicly expressed the opinion that the accession of the Crimea to the Russian Federation is illegal. In March 2014, he hung the Ukrainian national flag on the roof of his house in protest. After that, the de facto authorities began to prosecute him. Subsequently, the flag was removed (according to Balukh, the FSB officers did it), and the farmer was accused of stealing spare parts from a T-74 tractor and a VAZ car.
Later, FSB officers said that, 90 cartridges and several TNT grenades were found in the attic of the Balukh’s house. As a result, Balukh was sentenced to correctional labor.