{"id":89645,"date":"2018-09-14T19:59:04","date_gmt":"2018-09-14T19:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uacrisis.org\/?p=68575"},"modified":"2018-09-15T11:10:48","modified_gmt":"2018-09-15T08:10:48","slug":"68575-roman-sushchenko-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/68575-roman-sushchenko-case","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian journalist sentenced to 12 years in prison: the likely outcome of the Roman Sushchenko case"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 12 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled lawful 12-year sentence issued earlier by the Moscow city court to Roman Sushchenko, Ukrainian journalist, whose arrest and imprisonment Ukraine and the international community see as illegal and politically motivated. The decision was announced by a judge of the Russian Supreme Court. The appeal of the defense was thus rejected in full. Sushchenko made a statement saying that he disagrees with the court decision and that he will keep on fighting for his liberation, among the actions he is to get is also filing a claim to the European Court of Human Rights. UCMC takes a closer look at who Roman Sushchenko is, why he was arrested and what is the likely outcome of his case.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Who is Roman Sushchenko?\u00a0<\/strong>Roman Sushchenko is a Ukrainian journalist, since 2002 he has been correspondent of the Ukrainian state agency Ukrinform. From 2010 he used to work as an Ukrinform correspondent in France. From the media materials<\/a>\u00a0it became known that in addition to the journalism degree Roman Sushchenko also has a military specialization. He graduated from a military-engineer tank college. Prior to Ukrinform Sushchenko indeed worked for some time in Ukraine\u2019s Ministry of Defense. Some observers following his case are of the opinion that this fact might have become a reason for the criminal case started against him. Roman Sushchenko is married and has two children \u2013 daughter Yulia and son Maksym. His family resides in France.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How the events unfolded: the arrest. <\/strong>The Russian security service detained Roman Sushchenko on September 30, 2016. The journalist used to come to Moscow earlier to visit his brother. Having studied the case materials Sushchenko\u2019s lawyer Mark Feyginlearnt that the Russian security service started following Sushchenko in December 2015<\/a>. To get a reason to arrest him Russia\u2019s Federal Security Service (FSB) staged a provocation against the journalist and actually framed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Moscow he was given a digital medium \u2013 a disc, to take back to Paris. Roman did not need it, he is doing journalism. It was FSB that needed it, they are pros in making up such stories. There are just a few counter intelligence services that can compete with them in this field,\u201d Feygin said.<\/p>\n

According to him, Sushchenko was supposed to pass the disc to another Ukrainian journalist in Paris.<\/p>\n

The charges. <\/strong>On October 3, 2016 FSB stated that the Ukrainian journalist, who worked as an Ukrinform correspondent in France for the previous six years, is allegedly a colonel of Ukrainian military intelligence and was collecting secret information on the activities of the Russian army and the Russian Guard.<\/p>\n

Evidence in the case. <\/strong>Little details are known about the charges and the evidence against the Ukrainian, as eight out of 12 volumes of the case bear the classified mark. The trial that started in Moscow city court in late March 2018 was held behind the closed doors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The trial and the sentence. <\/strong>On June 4, 2018 Ukrinform journalist Roman Sushchenko was sentenced to 12 years in a maximum security prison<\/a>\u00a0on espionage charges. FSB claims that the journalist is a staff member of Ukraine\u2019s Intelligence Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense and that he was detained when collecting secret information in Russia.<\/p>\n

Pressure on the lawyer.<\/strong>On April 24, 2018 Sushchenko\u2019s lawyer Mark Feygin, who also used to defend Nadiya Savchenko and other Ukrainians detained in Russia, was stripped off the lawyer\u2019s status. Thus, one month before the sentence was to be announced, Sushchenko remained without the lawyer. The formal reason for that named by the Russian authorities was the fact that Feygin used curse words in his three tweets in July 2017. After the license was taken away from him, Feygin said he still felt responsible towards Sushchenko and would continue working on his case in a different capacity though.<\/p>\n

A year and a half of waiting for the sentence. <\/strong>Sushchenko sent drawings made with tea and onion peel to his family. \u201cMy father used paper, ballpoint pens, pencils, tea and onion peel to make the drawings,\u201d his daughter Yulia wrote on Facebook. The drawings depict the outskirts of Italy\u2019s Parma and the Ar Men lighthouse in France\u2019s Brittany. \u201cMy father drew them in Lefortovo prison back in August and December 2017,\u201d Yulia added. Sushchenko\u2019s drawings were also appreciated by Ukraine\u2019s President Petro Poroshenko. \u201cThank you, Roman, for keeping the spirit high despite Kremlin\u2019s intention to break your will,\u201d the president wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Reaction of Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Affairs Ministry. <\/strong>The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ukraine responded to the 12-year sentence issued by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation<\/a>\u00a0for the illegally detained Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko. According to the Ministry\u2019s spokesperson Mariana Betsa, they had no illusions as to the \u201csentence\u201d to Sushchenko.<\/p>\n

Reaction of the President Poroshenko. <\/strong>The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko became indignant at the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation that kept in force the 12-year sentence to the Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, the President wrote on Facebook on September 12. \u201cSince the very beginning this case has been a farce, while the absurdity of the \u2018trials\u2019 is evident to the whole civilized world. The year 1937 still continues in the Russian Federation, while we keep fighting against Russia\u2019s aggression and to free Kremlin\u2019s Ukrainian hostages,\u201d President Poroshenko wrote.<\/p>\n

Exchange possible? <\/strong>Mark Feygin admitted the possibility of having Sushchenko exchanged for Kyrylo Vyshynskyi, RIA Novosti editor arrested in Kyiv. According to Feygin, the decision on Sushchenko\u2019s exchange for Vyshynskyi fully \u201cdepends on Moscow, not on Kyiv\u201d. He added that the Russian Federation is interested in taking Vyshynskyi back. Vyshynskyi was detained in Kyiv on May 15. Ukraine\u2019s Security Service immediately announced that the head of RIA Novosti Ukraine is being charged with being Russia\u2019s accomplice in the annexation of Crimea and in supporting the \u201cLPR and DPR terrorist organizations\u201d. Upon the searches of the suspect\u2019s banking deposit box Ukraine\u2019s Security Service discovered USD 200 thousand, a service agreement with the international media group \u201cRussia Today\u201d, a shotgun and ammunition to it. Back in June during a court sitting Vyshynskyi appealed to the Russian president Vladimir Putin through the media asking for legal assistance as well as to take measures to free him. He also said he renounces the Ukrainian citizenship. The journalist is also in possession of the Russian citizenship that he received in 2015. However Ukraine\u2019s State Migration Service said that Vyshynskyi will not be able to renounce his Ukrainian citizenship while the trial is on.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The pardon claim.\u00a0<\/strong>According to the latest information provided by media, Roman Sushchenko is ready to write up a pardon claim. Mark Feygin, now Sushchenko\u2019s civic defense lawyer, said in an interview to \u201cPryamyi\u201d, a Ukrainian TV channel.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoman is ready to write this damned paper with the pardon claim,\u201d Feygin said. \u201cI see no problem in it and Roman agrees with me, as it makes no difference what you write, it is important to get to Kyiv.\u201d The lawyer emphasized that Sushchenko still does not recognize himself guilty and the pardon claim will not mean the contrary.<\/p>\n

\n\t\n\t\t\"\"\t\t\n\t\t\tView Gallery<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t4 images\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/a>\n<\/figure>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On September 12 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled lawful 12-year sentence issued earlier by the Moscow city court to Roman Sushchenko, Ukrainian journalist, whose arrest and imprisonment Ukraine and the international community see as illegal and politically motivated. The decision was announced by a judge of the Russian Supreme Court. The appeal […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":89646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[705,748],"tags":[],"section":[743],"form":[],"yoast_head":"\nUkrainian journalist sentenced to 12 years in prison: the likely outcome of the Roman Sushchenko case | UACRISIS.ORG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On September 12 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation ruled lawful 12-year sentence issued earlier by the Moscow city court to Roman Sushchenko, | Uacrisis.org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uacrisis.org\/en\/68575-roman-sushchenko-case\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ukrainian journalist sentenced to 12 years in 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