Ukraine, Malaysia sign agreement on transfer of sentenced persons

12.04.2021 10:39

Ukrinform

Ukraine and Malaysia have signed an agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons, which provides for the establishment of a legal mechanism for the possibility of returning them to their country of nationality for further imprisonment, the Ukrainian Embassy in Malaysia has told Ukrinform.

The signing ceremony took place in the administrative capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya. On behalf of Ukraine, the agreement was signed by Ambassador of Ukraine to Malaysia Olexander Nechytaylo.

"Ukraine has become the first country with which Malaysia signed such a document. According to our Malaysian colleagues, in the future the text of the agreement signed today will be a kind of model that Malaysia will follow during negotiations with other states," Nechytaylo said after the signing ceremony.

He added that today's event was the result of persistent and effective work of the negotiating team, the Ukrainian part of which was headed by Deputy Minister of Justice Valeria Kolomiets. The delegation also included representatives of the Ukrainian President's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ukrainian Embassy in Malaysia.

The diplomat thanked the Malaysian side for the constructive approach, which helped quickly complete the negotiation process.

The embassy said that after the return to Ukraine in May 2020 of Klavdiia Lopatkina, convicted by a Malaysian court for illegal transportation of drugs, there were no Ukrainian citizens left in the Malaysian penitentiary system.

Ukraine is a party to the 1983 Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, to which 66 countries are parties. In addition, Ukraine has 13 existing bilateral international agreements on the transfer of persons sentenced to imprisonment for them further serving their sentences.