Kyiv: almost 300 prisoners have been transferred to Ukraine from Crimea and Donbas
The Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Justice, Denys Chernyshov, announced that 286 prisoners were transferred from the penitentiary institutions in the uncontrolled regions of Donbas and the annexed Crimea to serve their sentence in Ukraine's controlled territories, reported Ukrinform .
“The majority of the convicts, 199 people, were transferred from the so-called DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and 12 persons were transferred from the Crimea. Last year and in February of this year, there were another two prisoners’ transfers from the so-called LPR of 75 people. In total 286 people were transferred "said Chernyshov.
According to the official, the main body which deals with transferring prisoners from the territories which are not under Ukraine’s control is the Committee of Legal Policy and Justice of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. This committee receives applications for transfer requests.
“Has another transfer been planned? Yes, it has been planned, but how soon and in what quantity I can’t tell you,” said the deputy minister said, adding that he cannot say how many prisoners remain in the uncontrolled territories of Donbas and in Crimea. “
Chernyshov said that at the beginning of 2014, 3295 people were detained in the penitentiary institutions of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, 9511 people in the institutions of the Donetsk region, and 6426 people in the Luhansk region.
On February 7, the LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic) militants handed over to Kyiv 33 prisoners who were convicted before the outbreak of hostilities in the Donbas and expressed a desire to serve their sentences in Ukraine.
In December last year, the Donbas militants handed over to Kyiv 13 prisoners who were serving their sentences in prisons.