EU urges Russia to immediately release Pavlo Hryb

The European Union has condemned the Russian court's verdict against Ukrainian political prisoner Pavlo Hryb, who was sentenced to six years of imprisonment.

The EU spokesperson issued a corresponding statement today. The text of the document was published on the website of the European External Action Service (EEAS).

"Pavlo Hryb, a 20-year old Ukrainian citizen who suffers from a disabling and serious medical condition, was abducted from Belarus by the Russian authorities in August 2017. Since then he has been illegally detained in Russia without any substantiated charges, and his health condition continues to be worrying. Today a Russian court sentenced Pavlo Hryb to six years imprisonment on the grounds of "promoting terrorism". The European Union expects Mr Hryb to be immediately released and granted access to the special medical treatment he needs. For so long as he remains in detention, Ukrainian doctors must be allowed to see him as required by a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights," the statement reads.

As reported, Pavlo Hryb disappeared on August 24, 2017 in Belarus, where he went to the city of Gostomel to date a girl with whom he communicated on social networking sites.

In September, it became known that Pavlo Hryb was in a detention center in Krasnodar (Russia), charged with terrorism. At the same time, his lawyer said that Pavlo had been kidnapped by FSB officers.

On November 7, the arrest of Pavlo Hryb was extended until April 24, 2019.

Today, March 22, the Russian court sentenced Pavlo Hryb to six years in a prison colony of general regime.

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