Former political prisoner from Crimea, Volodymyr Balukh, said he was beaten by prior arrangement at the Shevchenkivskyi District Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (TCS) in Kyiv on March 20 for his activities. Balukh attends all courts related to political activities. His lawyers filed complaints with the police about his illegal detention at the TCS.
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He announced this at a meeting of the Temporary Investigative Commission of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on March 27, a correspondent for Suspilny reports.
“This took place in the premises of the CCC on Salyutna Street. For my activities, I attend all courts related to political activities. This was by prior arrangement. This day, a hearing was held in the Chervinsky case.” Roman Chervinsky was suspected by the SBU of abuse of power. According to the investigation, his actions led to the shelling of the Kanatove airfield, where people died and planes were destroyed. Chervinsky himself calls the case political and falsified. After a year in custody, he was released on bail, and now he is under house arrest in Kyiv . I was persistently offered to appear at the Pechersk district police station. I gave evidence because I allegedly called the prosecutor an obscene word. A small van was parked right next to the entrance, two police representatives said that I was wanted and went to the CCC,” Balukh said.
According to the former political prisoner, he was then forcibly put in a van without checking his documents, his phone was taken away, and he was kept in a cell for over two hours. The man subsequently spent a total of 21 hours in the CCC.
“They took off my handcuffs, talked to the person, he understood the situation and said that the disability was not being added to the electronic database. Then they took me to an office where the military medical commission was. Then an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs appeared and an administrative protocol was drawn up, I did not swear (this is about the prosecutor at the Chervinsky meeting – ed.). The beating took place at 9:00 p.m., I asked to be given a phone. There is information there that at 9:00 p.m. you can use the phone. They answered me with Khmatsva and Russian, after the third time I sent it,” Balukh said.
He noted that the “leader” came and “shoved him into the cell,” where he was punched in the jaw and bruised in the chest.
Balukh's lawyers filed a complaint with the police about his illegal detention in the CCC. The meeting of the Temporary Investigative Commission, where the former political prisoner testified, was attended by the prosecutor of the Kyiv Specialized Prosecutor's Office for Defense of the Central Region, Artem Novov.
“We learned about the information from the media. Information was collected from the CCC and units of the National Police, and relevant letters were sent to law enforcement agencies. We will take measures to accelerate the investigation,” he stressed.
As a reminder, on March 20, Volodymyr Balukh stated that he was beaten in the premises of the Kyiv CCC. The capital's CCC denies the fact of the beating, saying that they checked his documents and sent Balukh to the VLK. Military Medical Commission .
What is known about Volodymyr Balukh?
Balukh's persecution began after the occupation of Crimea in 2014. He hung a Ukrainian flag on his house in the village of Serebryanka. It was taken down several times, but the man hung it up again.
In August 2017, Balukh was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, accused of “storing ammunition.” In early October 2017, the “court” overturned the sentence and ordered a new trial. Then, in January 2018, Balukh was sentenced to 3 years and 7 months in a penal colony and a fine of 10,000 rubles.
On September 7, 2019, 35 people returned to Ukraine as part of the exchange, including 24 captured sailors and political prisoners Balukh, Sentsov, Kolchenko, Sushchenko, Karpyuk, Klykh, Hryb, Yevhen and Artur Panov, Bekirov, and Syzonov.