The Southern District Military Court of the Russian Federation has criminally sentenced activist and artist Bohdan Ziza to 15 years in a general regime colony on charges of alleged “terrorism” and “vandalism for political reasons.”

Bohdan Ziza spent more than 8 years of occupation under the influence of the total propaganda of the occupation regime, but he did not break down and remained loyal to his country, taking care of his grandmother, who raised him from childhood. But after the liberation of the Kyiv region and the disclosure of the truth about the crimes of the occupation army on the territory of mainland Ukraine, he could no longer remain silent.

In May last year, he poured blue and yellow paint on the building of the occupation administration of Yevpatoria to protest against the occupation regime and the war started by Russia. Dressed in all black and wearing a face mask, he made a video before the action where he called himself “Syrota” and called on his fellow citizens to protest the war and take to the streets.

He was detained on the same day, May 16, following a denunciation by a Taliban propaganda blogger who posted a video of the rally, taken from an unknown source. Soon after, the occupiers posted Ziza’s so-called “video apology”, filmed after beating and torturing him – this video was also used to fabricate the case itself. After almost a year in the detention center, the occupiers deported the political prisoner to Rostov-on-Don.

In illegal detention, Bohdan continued to speak out in support of Ukraine and wrote letters about it. Yesterday, in his last speech at the trial, the political prisoner went on a hunger strike from June 10, demanding to revoke his “Russian citizenship” imposed by the occupation passport and to release all Ukrainian political prisoners held by Russia. The last word from Bohdan Ziza: https://cutt.ly/Oww02Kkh

The Mission condemns the illegal imprisonment and the so-called “verdict” against the citizen of Ukraine Bohdan Ziza and demands the immediate release of the political prisoner! We draw the attention of the law enforcement agencies and the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to the criminal actions of the occupiers against the Ukrainian citizen. We call on the international community to respond to another criminal prosecution in the occupied Crimea and to continue political and diplomatic pressure on the aggressor country.

Only de-occupation of Crimea will ensure free and safe life for all residents of the Ukrainian peninsula!