Today, on October 21, the occupation court of Alushta illegally sentenced Ukrainian citizen Oleksandr Tarapon to 2.5 years in a maximum security prison for allegedly “publicly disseminating deliberately false information about the use of the Russian armed forces” (207.3 of the Criminal Code). So far, this is the first known case of criminal prosecution for allegedly “discrediting the Russian armed forces” in occupied Crimea. before that, the occupation courts imposed fines under article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation – there are 142 known illegal administrative penalties in occupied Crimea.

“In addition, your position in the case, which is known, has led to such a result,” the occupation judge Oleksandr Zakharov concluded the announcement of the illegal sentence, who sentenced Oleksandr to six months longer than the term demanded by the occupation prosecutor D. N. Shkil.

Before the pseudo-referendum and throughout the occupation of Crimea, Oleksandr Tarapon, a native of Alushta, actively opposed Russian propaganda, and after the full-scale invasion began, when it became known about the massive war crimes of the Russian army on the territory of Ukraine, he posted leaflets in the village where his wife’s relative, a Russian military officer, lived with his photo and the signature “A war criminal, a child killer lives here.” After the start of the full-scale invasion, Oleksandr’s wife Adel provided free psychological support to Ukrainians in the war zone.

Oleksandr was detained on the night of March 31, 2022. He and his wife were in different apartments, so when Adel could not find the keys to the rented apartment where Oleksandr was staying, the occupation forces began to threaten the woman.

The Mission strongly condemns the criminal prosecution by Russia of Ukrainian citizen Oleksandr Tarapon and the imposition of illegal fines on his wife Adel Tarapon.

The case of Oleksandr Tarapon is another vivid example of the deprivation of our citizens in the occupied Crimea of the right to fair justice, which is a gross violation of fundamental human rights. And the occupation court itself in this case acted as an instrument of political persecution.

Repressions and persecution of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea must stop immediately, which is impossible without the de-occupation of the Crimean peninsula!