Political prisoner Balukh has liver pain, loses weight

"Volodymyr had an attack of severe pain in liver. He continues to lose weight. Now he is held in a cell with constant video surveillance. Balukh believes that camera records him even using the toilet," the Crimean Human Rights Group report, citing lawyers of Balukh.

Ukrainian patriot Volodymyr Balukh has been held in prison for already one year and nine months in the occupied Crimea.

The Federal Security Service of Russia detained Volodymyr Balukh on December 8, 2016. The FSB officers claimed that they had found 90 cartridges and several TNT blocks in the attic of his house.

March 14, the Kremlin-controlled Supreme Court of Crimea changed the verdict in the case of Ukrainian activist Volodymyr Balukh. The court excluded the paragraph on purchase of ammunition from the verdict and sentenced the activist to 3 years and 5 months of imprisonment in a penal colony settlement and fined him about UAH 4,600. Balukh's defense team and human rights defenders say that he is a victim of repression for his pro-Ukrainian position – Ukraine's flag in the courtyard of his home.

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