About 1,000 Ukrainians who became victims of human trafficking have been convicted in Russia for drug-related crimes, and 73 of them returned home this year to serve their sentence as part of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons, Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Serhiy Petukhov has said.
He said on Oct. 2 at a meeting with relatives of Ukrainians who became victims of human trafficking in Russia and convicted or brought to criminal responsibility in Russia for crimes related to drug trafficking that the National Police of Ukraine was investigating criminal proceedings on this matter. According to him, people began to work in Russia under the guise of couriers, and then it turned out that they were involved in the trade and distribution of drugs.
“The exact number of victims of human trafficking is not known, because there are always reports of new cases. It is already known that there are about 1,000 Ukrainian citizens who have been convicted in Russia,” he said.
Petukhov noted that such actions by the Russian side were “part of a large-scale campaign in the Russian Federation.”
“They allegedly fight against drug trafficking… There are cases when drugs are planted… in case of such a suspicion and investigation into such cases the Russian courts almost automatically issue convictions… Ukrainian citizens have sentences issued against them for a very long term… on average ten years in prison,” he said.
According to him, the Justice Ministry has recently received a large number of appeals from Ukrainians convicted in Russia with the request to get them home. In 2014, according to Petukhov, there were 35 appeals, in 2015 – 106, in 2016 – 137, and the ministry has already received 314 appeals since the beginning of this year.
He said that the procedure for transferring convicts under the convention to serve their sentence at home required a statement from the convicted person, the proper verification of the possibility of transfer by the Russian side and in the absence of such a refusal the transfer to Ukraine for serving a sentence.
Petukhov noted that this procedure was quite long in time and that the Justice Ministry was making every effort to speed up this process. At the same time, he said that according to the convention, the convicts must serve their sentence in the homeland in the format of a court decision and the decision could be reviewed only with the appearance of new circumstances.
He added that about a third of applications are rejected by the Russian side.
According to him, 45 convicts were extradited to Ukraine in 2014, 25 in 2015, 44 in 2016, and 73 in 2017.
Petukhov also recalled that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had repeatedly warned Ukrainians travelling to Russia that they could be involved in human trafficking and charged with separatism and terrorism.
