Russian Court Rules To Keep Ukrainian Teen In Custody Until March

15 December 2017 22:56

A court in the Russian city of Krasnodar has ruled to keep kidnapped Ukrainian teenager Pavlo Gryb in custody until March 4, 2018, according to his father Ihor Gryb.

The court had previously ruled to keep Gryb in custody until January 4, 2018.

“They’ve pushed it back two months. They did not accept any arguments,” his father, Ihor Gryb, told Hromadske.

Pavlo Gryb’s mother, Maria Gryb, attended the December 15 hearing, which was initially scheduled for December 19.

Gryb stands accused of “abetting terrorist activities” in Russia.

On August 28, 2017, the former Ukrainian border guard Ihor Gryb announced on Facebook that the Security Services of the Russian Federation (FSB) had kidnapped his son. According to him, FSB officers detained Pavlo Gryb after luring him to Gomel, Belarus under the pretense of meeting with a girl he had met online.

Ukraine has not yet received a response from Belarus regarding the circumstances of Gryb’s arrest.

In November 2017, a Russian court denied Gryb’s appeal to be released under house arrest, despite the fact that he suffers from a chronic illness.