Ukrainian commissioner: Kuznetsov’s German detention conditions may amount to torture
The conditions under which Ukrainian citizen Serhii Kuznetsov is being held in pretrial detention in Germany could be considered a form of torture, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said in a statement on Tuesday.
He said he remains in contact with Kuznetsov’s family and lawyers. According to Kuznetsov’s wife, he is being held in a section for “particularly dangerous” inmates under a regime of near-total isolation — 23 hours a day in a solitary cell.
She is allowed to see him only once a month, and opportunities for communication and access to normal conditions are severely restricted. In other sections of the facility, no comparable level of isolation and pressure exists, she added.
Since November, Serhii Kuznetsov has not made a single phone call, even though the court officially permitted him to have telephone contact. Lubinets said the facility administration has still not “technically” arranged this possibility.
The man is not being issued winter footwear that was delivered to him and is being stored in the warehouse. In addition, the issue of Kuznetsov’s nutrition — taking into account his needs — has still not been fully resolved despite all previous requests.
“Such detainment conditions may bear signs of inhuman and degrading treatment and potentially be considered a form of torture, which is unacceptable under international human rights standards,” Lubinets stated.
He announced that he will appeal to the relevant German authorities — justice bodies, the penitentiary system and human rights institutions — demanding immediate response to the situation. The commissioner insists on a personal monitoring visit to the place where Serhii Kuznetsov is being held.
“I want to personally check the conditions of detainment of our citizen, speak with him confidentially and assess how well his rights are being observed,” Lubinets said.
Nord Stream sabotage
On September 27, 2022, Denmark and Sweden reported leaks on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea. This occurred just hours after a similar incident on Nord Stream 2. Two days later, a fourth leak was discovered. Both Russian pipelines were key for gas transit from Russia.
Germany and the EU suspected sabotage. Russia accused Britain; London rejected the claims.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that the operation to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022 was planned by several high-ranking Ukrainian military officers and businessmen and carried out from an ordinary recreational yacht using openly available sea-bottom charts.
According to German media, investigators identified seven people involved in the sabotage: four divers (including one woman), an explosives specialist, a skipper and a coordinator. Germany issued arrest warrants for six of them.
Among them are Volodymyr Zhuravlev, who is in Poland, and Serhii Kuznetsov, who was detained while vacationing with his family in Italy (media describe him as a former SBU employee and retired Ukrainian Armed Forces captain).
The seventh suspect — a Ukrainian serviceman who was undergoing training in Germany — was killed on the front line in Ukraine, according to media reports.