Anton Gerashchenko, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada member from the People’s Front faction and an adviser to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, says that the Russian participant in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 maybe granted entry into Ukraine, but she will be held liable under Ukrainian laws for her illegal visit to Russia-occupied Crimea.
Gerashchenko on March 13 described two possible scenarios of developments.
“[Ukraine may] refuse Yulia Samoilova entry [into Ukraine] for violating the rules of visiting the occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,” he wrote on Facebook on March 13.
The Russian side will use this for its propaganda purposes, Gerashchenko said.
“This will be used by the Russian propaganda machine to stir up hatred towards our country both in its territory and among Ukrainian citizens in the occupied areas,” he mentioned one of the scenarios.
“[Ukraine may] let Yulia Samoilova enter Ukraine, at the same time prosecuting her for breaching the state border. […] I think it is right to choose the second option. Let her come but be held responsible for breaching the Ukrainian law,” he said.
He said he believes that such a solution will be the best one from different points of view, because “we are not refusing the Russian contestant entry into Ukraine, but also will use her example to show the public that we aren’t going to tolerate the violation of the Ukrainian border,” he said.
According to him, Article 332-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine foresees up to three years in prison if the rules of entry into temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine are violated by an individual for the first time.
A repeatedly committed crime entails imprisonment for a period from three to eight years.
