Citizens of Ukraine were called criminals and denied entry!
Today, the Latvian media published a “report” about 14 Ukrainians who were illegally denied the right to cross the border. In the plot of the LTV channel, the reason for the refusal is explained by earlier “committed crimes”
"They were imprisoned in Ukraine for criminal offenses. Then, after the occupation of the territories of Ukraine, they were transported to the territory of Russia. After that, in Russia they were released from places of detention and moved to the border. They were accompanied by the Russian migration service," commented the head of the Ludza Department of the State Border Guard Valdis Yukshs.
International human rights organization UnMode is outraged by the incompetence of the journalists and editors of the Panorama project who released this story.
We remind you that we are talking about 14 citizens out of 2,500 Ukrainian prisoners who, at the time of the full-scale Russian invasion, were serving sentences in correctional facilities in the Kherson region.
We have been monitoring the situation since March 2022 and have repeatedly tried to draw attention to this issue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8l8zrW8ra0
▪Besides us, the problem of illegally and forcibly taken out prisoners was raised by Ukrainian human rights organizations
https://ngoauu.org/xersonski-vyazni-v-poloni-u-rosijskix-okupantiv/
UnMode declares: all Ukrainian prisoners who were on the territory of the Kherson region at the time of the occupation were forcibly taken out through Crimea to the territory of the Russian Federation. After the term of serving the sentence came to an end, 14 Ukrainian prisoners held in the TsVSIG of the Volgograd region were delivered by special transport of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia to the checkpoint on the border between Russia and Latvia. At the time of the attempt to cross the border with Latvia in order to evacuate from the Russian Federation, 14 liberated Ukrainians had all the supporting documents.
“They served the sentence imposed by the Ukrainian court, they are not criminals. For a democratic state and a member of the European Union - Latvia, it should have been, first of all, citizens of Ukraine, who turned out to be victims of a war crime committed against them by Russia. These civilians are protected by the 4th Geneva Convention; every ex-prisoner had supporting documents,” says Aidana Fedosik, executive director of UnMode
We made an open appeal to official Ukrainian structures and international organizations protecting human rights with a request to immediately intervene in the situation, and also sent an official appeal to the Embassy of Ukraine in Latvia, but did not receive a response. https://www.facebook.com/UnModeCommunityMovement/posts/pfbid02ViKzWH7wYQZn4aQgVGvaYHGEuVBt87CZ4UcS7Y5uJnqffPP8LniCzQ2wa1VQiXqQl
In addition, ex-prisoners themselves report ignoring urgent requests for help. All attempts by Ukrainians to contact the consulate of their country in Latvia were ignored, and the Ukrainians themselves were forcibly, by the forces of the Latvian special forces, taken to the territory of Russia.
At the moment, all 14 people are again on the territory of Russia, under escort, deprived of freedom of movement. Latvia even expelled back to Russia those Ukrainians - former prisoners who initially crossed the Latvian border. Among them are people with serious illnesses that require continuous treatment.
UnMode calls on international human rights organizations, Ukrainian independent media and structures of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to immediately intervene in the situation and ensure the safe return of 14 Ukrainians to their country