The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova has reported that according to her Russian counterpart Tatyana Moskalkova, the Ukrainian political prisoner in the Simferopol detention facility in Crimea, Volodymyr Balukh, is taking meals according to a special scheme.
“I’ve just talked with Tatyana Moskalkova, a Russian human rights commissioner, and she told me about her visit to the Simferopol detention facility. Tatyana Moskalkova visited and talked with all 12 prisoners whose condition I asked her to check. The latest information on Volodymyr Balukh’s state of health is as follows according to her: “Now this is not a complete starvation, but food on a special scheme,” Denisova wrote on her Facebook page on May 18 evening.
As for another political prisoner – Uzeyir Abdullayev, then, according to the Russian ombudsman, she personally examined his legs. “Uzeyir confirmed that he was feeling much better now and added that he didn’t not understand the cause of the exacerbation, but medical assistance was provided in a timely manner. Today he hasn’t not made any demands. The treatment will be continued if necessary,” Denisova said.
She noted that the authorized representative of the Russian Federation promised to give more detailed information in an official letter. “I expect an answer in the first days of the next week, which I will immediately report about,” wrote Denisova.
As reported, Ukrainian farmer Balukh was arrested on December 8, 2016 in his house in the village of Crimea temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation. Russian authorities Serebrianka of Rozdolne district charged him with possession of ammunition.
Crimea’s Rozdolne District Court sentenced Balukh to three years and seven months of imprisonment in a low-security penal colony and to a fine of 10,000 Russian rubles. Balukh’s defense team said the case was fabricated, and his verdict would be appealed in courts of higher instances.
He started the hunger strike on March 14, when an illegal verdict on the trumped-up case against him came into effect. Balukh explained that the hunger strike was “a manifestation of his personal contempt for the occupation regime.”
On May 15 he began to take food in order to avoid forced feeding. “On the 25th day of the hunger strike, after consulting with the Archbishop of the Crimean Kliment, in order to maximally make impossible the likelihood of forcible feeding and unauthorized use of medical means for the preservation of the body, and so as not to cause irreparable grief to my relatives, I decided to switch over to another protest regime. Since that day, I daily use two glasses of oatmeal, 50-70 g of breadcrumbs and I drink tea with honey,” Balukh said in an open address to Ukrainians, a photocopy of which the website of the Crimean human rights group made public.
