Noted historian Kozlovsky finally released by separatist thugs in Donetsk

2017/12/30 23:00:27

No credible evidence was ever presented to support the Russian separatists’ charges against the scholar who was well-known for his peacekeeping efforts.

 

Photo: President Petro Poroshenko personally met Kozlovsky and other exchanged prisoners

 


From RISU, Dec 27, 2017

 

Ending wrongful captivity that began in January 2016, Ukrainian theologian and historian Igor Kozlovsky was released in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic on Dec. 26. He was among 73 Ukrainian citizens, both military and civilians, who were in the list for exchange in one of the biggest swaps. He had been accused of espionage and sentenced to nearly 3 years in prison.

 

Igor Kozlovsky is the author of over 50 scientific books and over 200 articles in dictionaries, encyclopaedias, periodicals. For more than 25 years he worked in the Donetsk regional state administration as the chief specialist on religious Affairs and taught in the universities of Donetsk. He had been awarded the peacekeeping medal of the Austrian Albert Schweitzer society.

 

On January 27, 2016, Kozlovsky was captured by militants in occupied Donetsk. He was searched in his apartment and taken to one of the cellars of the "MGB" of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The detention took place just after the attempt to undermine the monument of Lenin in the occupied city. There was no official information about the reasons for Kozlovsky’s arrest. First, there was information that he was accused of storing ammunition or espionage. Kozlovsky's wife, Valentyna, said that when the searchers came to their apartment, they said that the reason for this was "wrong correspondence on Facebook." They took away all the documents and gadgets from the scientist's apartment. The DPR said that he allegedly kept two grenades in his apartment, and the "Indictment" against the scientist consisted of only six pages.

 

Kozlovsky did not leave the occupied city because he had a paralyzed son, Svyatoslav. After the scientist's arrest, the latter was taken away from Donetsk.

 

Relatives even hired a lawyer in Donetsk, but without success. Their assertions that Kozlovsky never held any political activity, and there were no reasons for detaining him were ignored.

 

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*The article above appears through courtesy of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine. Access RISU at http://risu.org.ua/en/index

 

 

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