“Inhuman treatment” and isolation. Ukraine accuses Germany of violating the rights of the Nord Stream suspect

Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinec announced on Tuesday that the rights of Ukrainian citizen Serhiy K., suspected in the case of sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, are being violated in German custody. He announced that he would contact the relevant German authorities on this matter.

“I have just received another disturbing message from Serhiy K.'s wife, who recently visited him in a German pretrial detention center. According to her, Serhiy's rights as a human being are being seriously violated. He hasn't made a single phone call since November, even though the court officially allowed him to communicate by phone” – wrote Lubinec on Telegram.

According to him, the winter footwear that was given to the Ukrainian is kept in a warehouse and has not been issued to Serhiy. In addition, the issue of food, despite all previous appeals, has still not been finally resolved taking into account the needs of Ukrainian citizens.

Suspected diver is in the 'particularly dangerous' section

The Ukrainian spokesman also noted that Serhiy K. is kept in a section for “particularly dangerous” prisoners, under conditions of actual isolation – 23 hours a day in a solitary cell.

His wife can only see him once a month, and the possibilities of communication and access to normal conditions are significantly limited. (…) This type of detention may constitute inhuman and degrading treatment and potentially be considered a form of torture, which is unacceptable in accordance with international human rights standards, the ombudsman emphasized.

Lubinec said that he is currently preparing official letters containing a detailed list of recorded violations to the judicial authorities, the penitentiary system and institutions dealing with the protection of human rights in Germany, demanding that the situation be immediately rectified.

“I will insist on being allowed a personal monitoring visit to the place where Serhiy K is being held. I want to personally check the conditions of our citizen's detention, talk to him confidentially and assess the extent to which his rights are being respected,” he noted.

Court: Nord Stream was not a military target

On Thursday, the German Federal Court of Justice announced that Ukrainian citizen Serhiy K., accused of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipeline, will remain in custody and is not entitled to immunity. The court did not recognize the attack as an element of war and the gas pipeline as a legal military target.

The German prosecutor's office accuses the Ukrainian of unconstitutional sabotage, causing the explosion of explosives and destroying the structure of the gas pipeline. The Federal Court of Justice maintains that the explosions were “very likely” caused “on the order of a foreign state.”

The destruction of three of the four lines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, intended to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, occurred on September 26, 2022 at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

According to the German prosecutor's office, K. and several other people used a yacht that sailed from the port of Rostock. They were supposed to rent the boat from a German company on the basis of false identity documents and with the help of intermediaries. Investigators suspect that the divers attached at least four explosives to the pipelines, and after the operation they were picked up by a driver and transported to Ukraine.

From Kiev Iryna Hirnyk (PAP)

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