Russian court sentenced the initiator of the Crimean blockade

Lenur Islyamov was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, including sabotage, which had serious consequences.

In the annexed Crimea, the so-called “Supreme Court”, controlled by Russia, sentenced businessman Lenur Islyamov in absentia to 19 years in a maximum security colony, accused of organizing the blockade of the peninsula in 2015. He was informed by Interfax-Ukraine Thursday, December 10.

“To finally appoint Islyamov a 19-year prison sentence with deprivation of the right to participate in activities related to appearances in the media for a period of two years and restriction of freedom for a period of one year,” announced the “judge” the decision.

Islyamov was charged under three articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: sabotage by an organized group with serious consequences, the organization of an illegal armed group, and public calls for extremist activities using the media or networks. information and telecommunications, including on the Internet (paragraphs “a, b” Part 2 of Article 281, Part 1 of Article 208, Part 2 of Article 280.1).

The debate in the case ended a week ago: the prosecutor asked for 19 years in a strict regime colony, the defense demanded acquittal and asked the court to refuse to satisfy the declared civil claims totaling more than one billion rubles. .

Islyamov’s lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, believes the case is politically motivated. “The defense pointed out in the debate that the charges were not proven either in the implementation of the sabotage, or in the creation of a battalion, or in public resources,” said the lawyer.

Islyamov is the owner of the Crimean Tatar TV channel ATR, the former deputy prime minister of Crimea, the former owner of a credit institution (in Russia he owned the Just Bank, the license of the financial institution was revoked in the fall of 2015) .

The Russian investigators called Islyamov one of the organizers of the Crimean food blockade. Activists from the Asker organization he created in September 2015 blocked roads for food trucks in southern Ukraine, leading to the Crimean peninsula, and participated in the power blockade of Crimea. In November 2015, in the Kherson region, the supports of two power transmission lines blew up, which then supplied electricity to the peninsula. Crimea until the end of May 2016 lived in emergency mode.

News of Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel https://t.me/korrespondentnet