MOSCOW – The legal defense team of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, who is charged with espionage in Russia, has appealed the recent extension of his arrest until the end of January and plans to turn to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, Mark Feygin, a lawyer for Sushchenko, told Interfax on Nov. 29.
“I have personally submitted the appeal against the resolution of the Lefortovo court on an arrest extension for my client, whereby I request to select for him a softer preventive measure, which is house arrest,” Feygin said.
In Feygin’s view, when considering the investigators’ request to extend Sushchenko’s arrest, the court of first instance unfoundedly ignored the documents received from the Ukrainian embassy saying that the suspect may be kept under house arrest in the embassy’s reception house in Moscow.
“All appropriate papers are in the files of the case, but the court didn’t even bother to take them into consideration,” Feygin said.
Feygin went on to reveal that he plans to apply to the European Court of Human Rights over the criminal prosecution and incarceration of Sushchenko.
“First I need to address some procedural issues related to the fact that the resolution on the arrest of my client, which I appeal against, and the decision of the court of appeals, are currently classified as ‘top secret’, as well all papers of the case, which, apparently, makes it impossible to attach those to a complaint filed with the European Court,” he explained.
Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court resolved on Nov. 28 to prolong the arrest of Sushchenko for two more months, i.e. until Jan. 30, 2017.
On Oct. 3, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that “Ukrainian military intelligence career officer Col. Roman Sushchenko was detained in Moscow when gathering intelligence”. FSB opened a criminal case on espionage charges (Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code). The investigation is currently underway. Moscow’s Lefortovo District Court arrested the suspect. His lawyers challenged the arrest in a court of appeal.
Official Kyiv called Sushchenko’s arrest a provocation and described the espionage charges as trumped-up. On Nov. 22, Ukrainian Security Service head Vasyl Hrytsak told a briefing conference that Sushchenko had been put on the lists “for exchange of hostages”.
The Moscow Lefortovo Court resolved on Nov. 28 to extend the arrest of Sushchenko until late January 2017.
