Ukraine's negotiations with Russia on the transfer of Ukrainian citizens convicted in Crimea to Ukraine are nearing completion, Ukrainian First Deputy Justice Minister Natalia Sevostyanova said on Channel Five television on Friday.
“The negotiations are in the final stage,” Sevostyanova said.
Asked whether there is any progress in returning Mykola Karpiuk and Stanyslav Klykh convicted in Russia to Ukraine, Sevostyanova said that, while the Justice Ministry is using a legal mechanism to return all Ukrainian citizens convicted in Russia, including Klykh and Karpiuk, by sending requests on their transfer so that they serve their time at home, the political-legal pardon mechanism is quicker and more efficient.
“The Justice Ministry has the only tool using which we can return our political prisoners unlawfully convicted in Russia, when we have a sentence and the person’s consent to return home to serve time there,” Sevostyanova said.
“This tool takes a lot of time to employ, because Russia does not have clear timeframes and can drag out the process as long as it wishes,” she said.
In trying to defend the interests of Ukrainian citizens convicted in Russia, Kyiv has sent requests to Moscow on their transfer under the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Sevostyanova said.
“However, a process is going on simultaneously on the political-legal track, and it is more efficient,” she said.
Sevostyanova explained that this implies the simultaneous pardon of convicts in both countries and their transfer home.
“The pardon tool in both countries is quick and efficient – in fact, political prisoners are in fact simply returned to Ukraine,” she said.
