The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine intends to help two Ukrainian sailors convicted for drug smuggling in Venezuela to return to Ukraine.
"At the moment we are working on the possibility of gaining the convicted Ukrainian sailors’ early release on parole," the head of the information department of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine, Oleh Voloshyn, said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday, August 19.
Voloshyn added that if the Ukrainians appeal against their convictions, the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine will assist them in every way possible.
According to him, the problem of paying for legal services is being solved at the moment, and the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine will help to find sponsors for this.
Voloshyn said the foreign minister of Venezuela is to make a visit to Ukraine in September, during which, among other issues, they will discuss the fate of two Ukrainian sailors.
"Ukraine wants these people to be returned to Ukraine as soon as possible," the diplomat said.
Voloshyn also added that Ukraine hopes that Venezuelan authorities will make concessions in this issue.
As reported, two Ukrainian crewmembers of the B Atlantic vessel were arrested in the Venezuelan port of Maracaibo on August 13, 2007 on suspicion of being involved in the illegal smuggling of 128 kilograms of drugs (cocaine).
The trial on this case was delayed, so the Ukrainian president and the foreign minister sent letters to the Venezuelan leadership asking it to conduct the trial of the Ukrainian citizens under proper conditions.
On August 13, 2010 a Venezuelan court sentenced the two Ukrainian sailors to nine years in prison for drug smuggling.
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