Ukrainian human rights defender Butkevych disappeared in Russian captivity
Ukrainian human rights defender, former journalist of the BBC and military officer of the AFU Maksym Butkevych disappeared in the Russian penal system.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to BBC News Ukraine.
Neither his lawyer nor his parents know anything about Butkevich's whereabouts since the end of August 2023. Letters and parcels sent to him in the Luhansk pre-trial detention center are returned.
The last time Maksym appeared on a video link was during the appeal court in August 2023.
"In September, we received information that Maksym was taken. We don't know where," says Yevhenia Butkevych, the mother of the human rights defender.
Lawyer Leonid Solovyov, who defends Maksym Butkevich in court, sent inquiries about the prisoner's whereabouts and did not receive any answers.
"Back in August, during the only opportunity to communicate with friends during the broadcast from the court, he talked about the conditions of imprisonment - he was only recently allowed to go for walks. The prisoners in the Luhansk pre-trial detention center were there without any information at all. They did not know, what was happening in the world. To ask something from the prison administration, you need to write a statement. And they didn't even have a pen and paper," says Yevgenia Butkevich.
According to her, after that, Maksym's friends handed him letters and parcels at the pre-trial detention center. Paper and pens were handed over. But all their parcels came back with a warning - "correspondence not delivered".
According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, convicts have the right to unlimited correspondence, to receive parcels and parcels.
"We don't know where he is for several months. He doesn't receive letters. We hope that publicity will help," says Yevgenia Butkevich.
According to Maksym Butkevich's parents, lawyer Leonid Solovyov plans to file an appeal against the court's decision.
Family and human rights activists are concerned about his fate and health.
"Eyesight and memory are deteriorating," Maksym Butkevych described his condition in a Russian prison in August. According to him, part of the daily rescue practices is to list the thoughts of relatives and loved ones.
In Russia, the practice of moving prisoners hundreds or thousands of kilometers away in inhumane conditions is widespread, Amnesty International notes.
"The search for people can take weeks, sometimes months, during which relatives and lawyers do not receive any information," the human rights organization said.
We will remind you that Maksym Butkevich is a participant of the Revolution on Granite, a teacher at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, a journalist, a co-founder of ZMINA and Public Radio, a coordinator of the "Resource Center for Assistance to Forced IDPs", a member of the Committee of Solidarity with Kremlin Hostages and the "Without Borders" project.
From the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, he joined the army, and in June 2022 he was captured in the Luhansk region.
The Russian occupiers "sentenced" Butkevich on trumped-up charges of "cruel treatment of the civilian population" and imprisoned the human rights defender for 13 years.
