The prosecutor requested 11 years in a general regime colony for Vladislav Esipenko, a freelancer of the Krym.Realii publication, in the case of manufacturing and transporting an explosive device.
This is reported by the publication itself. The sentence to the journalist will be announced on February 16 in the Simferopol District Court.
Lawyer Dmitry Dinze said that the defense in the debate gave arguments for an acquittal. Among them: violation of the journalist’s right to protection and destruction of evidence during the examination. The defense lawyer also noted that in the debate the prosecutor relied on the new version of the article under which Esipenko is accused, it cannot be applied to him.
Vladislav Esipenko was detained by FSB officers in Crimea at a rally in memory of Taras Shevchenko in March 2021. The FSB reported that the freelancer is suspected of “gathering information in the interests of the Ukrainian special services.” While inspecting his car, security forces found an explosive device. The journalist was arrested on charges of illegal actions with weapons (Article 222 of the Criminal Code) and making explosives (Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code).
