This was announced by the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Georgiy Tykhyi, at a briefing on Friday, July 11, reports an Ukrinform correspondent.
Tikhiy noted that on July 7, Russia deported Komets to a border checkpoint with Georgia. Komets, who took part in the anti-government Euromaidan protests, was detained by Russia in Crimea on May 15, 2015. He received a ten-year prison sentence on fabricated and false charges from the so-called “Kyiv District Court of Simferopol.”
After serving his entire sentence, Komets was deported to the border between Russia and Georgia.
Tykhyi added that as soon as the Ukrainian embassy in Georgia learned of his presence at the border crossing, consulate staff immediately contacted him. He did not have identification documents with him, the validity of which had expired during his ten-year imprisonment, which was the reason for the delay at the crossing. The embassy quickly helped in obtaining the necessary documents, Tykhyi said.
“In this regard, the Ukrainian embassies in Georgia and Moldova coordinated Andriy Komets’ entry into Georgia and his subsequent trip to Moldova. Now I can confirm that he is back on Ukrainian soil. He has returned home. We welcome him and express our support to his family and loved ones, who were eagerly awaiting his return,” Tykhyi added.
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On June 10, 2016, Komets was sentenced to ten years in a maximum security penal colony for the attempted murder of two former members of the Ukrainian special forces unit “Berkut” during protests on the Maidan in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has denied any evidence of Komets’ involvement in attacks on Berkut officers. A Crimean human rights group has said the case was fabricated and motivated by selfish motives.
While in a Russian penal colony, Komets was repeatedly subjected to unjustified detention in a pre-trial detention facility.
After his release, he was detained at a Georgian border checkpoint due to expired documents he had received as a result of his ten-year imprisonment.
Photo: facebook.com/crimeahrg
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