Ukrainian Radio Unfastened Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko used to be launched Sunday after greater than 4 years in Russian custody in Crimea, consistent with RFE/RL.
Yesypenko used to be arrested and jailed on March 10, 2021, in Crimea, which used to be illegally annexed through Russia in 2014, on suspicion of amassing intelligence for Ukraine, a price he denied.
In February 2022, a Russian-installed courtroom in Crimea sentenced the twin Russian-Ukrainian citizen to 6 years on espionage fees that he, his employer and rights teams mentioned had been fabricated. Months later, he used to be additionally charged with possessing explosives — a declare he denies. Prosecutors later said the grenade present in his automotive didn’t endure his fingerprints.
The highest Moscow-controlled courtroom in Crimea later decreased Yesypenko’s sentence to 5 years. All the way through his trial, he testified that he used to be tortured with electrical shocks to extract a false confession.
“For greater than 4 years, Vlad used to be arbitrarily punished for against the law he didn’t dedicate. He paid too prime of a worth for reporting the reality about what used to be going down within Russia-occupied Crimea,” RFE/RL leader government Stephen Capus mentioned, including that Yesypenko have been “tortured, bodily and psychologically.”
Capus thanked the U.S. and Ukrainian governments for “operating with us to make sure that Vlad’s unjust detention used to be no longer extended.”
In a publish on Telegram, Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak thanked everybody who helped protected Yesypenko’s free up.
He used to be freed in a while after longtime RFE/RL correspondent Ihar Karnei used to be launched from jail in Belarus, following a unprecedented talk over with through a senior U.S. authentic.
