The criminal case against Ukrainian citizen Yevhen Panov, who was sentenced to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony by the Crimean Supreme Court in July for preparing subversive attacks on the peninsula, has been forwarded to the Russian Supreme Court for a hearing of his lawyers’ appeals.
“I have received the relevant letter stating that the case has been submitted by the Republic of Crimea to the Russian Supreme Court for the hearing of appeals,” one of Panov’s lawyers, Sergei Legostov, told Interfax.
The date of the hearing has not been announced. Legostov surmised that the case will be considered in October.
The defense team is asking the Supreme Court to acquit Panov.
On July 13, the Supreme Court of Crimea sentenced him to eight years in a maximum-security penal colony.
The resident of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region was found guilty of illegal possession and transport of weapons and ammunition, attempting to smuggle weapons and ammunition, and preparing an act of sabotage with an organized group.
He pleaded not guilty.
Enerhodar-born Panov previously worked as a bus driver at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant and participated in Ukraine’s military operation in Donbas.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) says that on August 7-8, 2016, it thwarted several attempts by a terrorist group to commit sabotage and break through to Crimea from Ukrainian territory, leading to the deaths of a Russian soldier and an FSB officer.
According to the FSB, Panov was an officer with the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate and one of the heads of a sabotage group. He initially made a confession, but later said he did so under torture. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry denied reports that its officers had been detained in Crimea.
