Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that he had received another alarming message from the wife of Serhiy Kuznetsov, who is suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline. She recently visited him in a German pre-trial detention center. The Ukrainian is not being given winter footwear, is not allowed to make phone calls, and is being held in a section for "particularly dangerous" individuals, UNN reports.
Since November, he (Kuznetsov - ed.) has not made a single phone call, despite the court officially allowing him telephone contact. The facility's administration has still not "technically" arranged such a possibility. Winter footwear, which was handed over and is stored in the warehouse, is not being given to Serhiy. The issue of nutrition, despite all previous appeals, has still not been definitively resolved taking into account his needs.
Separately, the ombudsman noted that, according to available information, Serhiy is being held in a section for "particularly dangerous" individuals, in a regime of de facto isolation – 23 hours a day in a solitary cell. His wife can see him only once a month, and opportunities for communication and access to normal conditions are significantly limited. In other sections of the facility, according to her, there is no similar level of isolation and pressure.
Such a detention regime may show signs of inhuman and degrading treatment and could potentially be considered a form of torture, which is unacceptable according to international human rights standards.
In this regard, the Commissioner publicly and officially appealed to the competent authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany.
I am currently preparing official letters with a detailed list of recorded violations to the justice authorities, penitentiary system, and human rights institutions in Germany, demanding an immediate correction of the situation. I will insist on being granted the opportunity to conduct a monitoring visit personally to Serhiy Kuznetsov's place of detention. I want to personally check the conditions of our citizen's detention, speak with him confidentially, and assess the extent to which his rights are being observed.
Furthermore, as the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Lubinets demands that he and his delegation be granted unhindered access to Serhiy Kuznetsov and that the conditions of his detention be brought into compliance with the standards of the Council of Europe, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the UN Convention Against Torture.
I remain in contact with Serhiy's family and lawyers and assure you: we will not leave him alone in this situation.
Context
49-year-old Ukrainian Serhiy Kuznetsov, suspected in the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage case, refused food since October 31. He was protesting against the conditions of detention in a high-security prison in Italy and demanding respect for his rights.
Last week, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, sent a letter to the Italian Ministry of Justice regarding Serhiy Kuznetsov, who was arrested in Italy on suspicion of involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions and is being held in inadequate conditions.