Moscow court sentences Hrytsenko to six years in prison in absentia

Moscow's Second Western District Military Court has sentenced former Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko to six years in prison in absentia for allegedly making "calls for terrorist attacks on the territory of the Russian Federation," according to TASS.

"The court, having heard the views of the parties, found Hrytsenko guilty under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (calls for committing terrorist activity on the territory of the Russian Federation using the media) and ordered punishment for him in absentia in the form of six years of imprisonment in a general-regime penal colony," Judge Daniil Logachev said, reading out the verdict.

The Russian court deprived Hrytsenko of the right to occupy positions in state or local government bodies for three years. The term of punishment will be calculated from the moment of Hrytsenko's actual detention.

The Hrytsenko "case" was investigated by the Chief Investigative Directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee.

Hrytsenko is charged with allegedly "making public calls for committing terrorist activity on the territory of the Russian Federation using the media" (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He was put on the international wanted list. A warrant for his arrest in absentia was issued in April 2019.

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