The Ukrainian consul on Oct. 10 met with Ukrinform journalist Roman Sushchenko in Lefortovo prison in Moscow, representative of the Ukrainian human rights commissioner Valeria Lutkovska, Mykhailo Chaplyha, has said.
“According to our information, Ukrainian consul has met with Roman Sushchenko,” he told Interfax-Ukraine on Oct. 10 evening saying that these data were obtained from the office of Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova.
Earlier, Chaplyha wrote on Facebook: “Our consul got access to Sushchenko after all. Respect for Tatyana Moskalkova, she has been very ‘persistent’ in emphasizing this issue with the Russian Foreign Ministry at our request.”
Moskalkova’s spokesman Alexei Zlovedov told Interfax that the consul’s meeting with Sushchenko has already concluded.
“There was such a meeting today, the Ukrainian consul left the detention facility at six o’clock in the evening,” he said.
The ombudsman earlier wrote to the prison asking it to allow a Ukrainian representative to visit the journalist, Zlovedov said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also confirmed the meeting.
“He did have a meeting. My information is that this happened only – literally – an hour ago,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariana Betsa told Interfax-Ukraine on Oct. 10 evening.
“Sushchenko’s condition is satisfactory, as are his prison conditions. He was being pressured. He denies his guilt,” Betsa said.
On Oct. 3 the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that its officers in Moscow arrested Sushchenko allegedly during a spy operation.
The Lefortovo court in Moscow placed Sushchenko under a two-month arrest. His defense team has appealed against the arrest.
Kyiv called the arrest a provocation on trumped-up espionage charges.
