Human rights defender Butkevich said that he pleaded guilty under the threat of torture

The Supreme Court of Russia left the sentence of Ukrainian human rights defender Maksym Butkevich unchanged: 13 years in prison. This is reported by “Mediazon” from the courtroom.

At the court session, Butkevich said that he pleaded guilty under the threat of torture. “On the one hand, I was told that if I agreed, then after the conviction, I would be changed to a convicted prisoner of war of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in a short period of time. As another argument, it was explained to me that if I refused, I would be subjected to various methods of physical influence. Some [методы] they were shown to me,” Butkevich said.

The human rights defender, who joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was captured and sentenced in March 2023. The court found him guilty of firing a grenade launcher at a residential building in Severodonetsk. The publication “Grata” then reported that Butkevich was in Kyiv at the time of the shelling, and arrived in the combat zone only ten days later.

During today’s cassation, Butkevich’s lawyer asked to attach the phone bill of the human rights defender and the interview of the French woman to the case. Both documents prove that Butkevich was in Kyiv at the time of the actions attributed to him. The court refused to attach them to the case, as it is “not within its competence.”

The lawyer noted that the court found Butkevich guilty only on the basis of his self-confession, there are no other expert examinations and evidence in the case.

The human rights organization Amnesty International considers the charges against Butkevich fabricated and links them with the desire of the Russian authorities to take revenge on him for his civil position and human rights activities.