FSB investigators have not resumed investigative actions against the Ukrainian military sailors who were detained for the incident in the Kerch Strait in November 2018. The lawyer Nikolai Polozov told the sailors about this.
“The criminal case is still suspended, as it is still being considered by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea”, – quotes the words of the TASS defender.
Speaking about the reason for the suspension of the investigation, the lawyer referred to paragraph 3 of part 1 of Art. 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation. It says that “the location of the suspect or the accused is known, but there is no real possibility of his participation in the criminal case.”
Earlier it became known that the proceedings in the case of the Ukrainian sailors were suspended for an unlimited period.
According to Polozov, such a decision was made by the investigation due to the fact that the sailors are in Ukraine and they are not recommended to stay in Russia. At the same time, they remain in the status of the accused, and they can potentially be put on the wanted list if they are outside Ukraine.
In addition, familiarization with the case materials was suspended, and investigative actions in connection with the transfer of warships to Ukraine were resumed.
On November 25, 2018, three ships of the Ukrainian naval forces – “Berdyansk”, “Nikopol” and “Yany Kapu” – entered the territorial waters of Russia in the Black Sea. Ukraine did not submit applications for the passage of the fleet through the Kerch Strait in advance.
The ships of the Ukrainian Navy, being in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation, did not react to warnings from the Russian border guards and, at the same time, made “dangerous maneuvers”. Fire was opened on the violating ships. As a result, they were detained by force and taken to Kerch. In Moscow, the incident was called a provocation.
Criminal cases were opened against 24 Ukrainian sailors for violating the border. In September 2019, they returned home during a detainee exchange. In early April of the same year, Kiev filed a lawsuit in international arbitration, in which it demanded that Moscow be found guilty of violating the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. In November, the Russian side handed over the detained ships to Kiev as a gesture of goodwill. However, Ukraine accused the Russian Federation of the “terrible state” of the courts and the loss of some equipment and toilets from them in the amount of $ 2.3 million.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
