According to the Simferopol court, Kolchenko is not a Ukrainian citizen

The Kiev court of the city of Simferopol today considered a lawsuit filed by the lawyer of one of the participants in the so-called "Sentsov case" Oleksandr Kolchenko, Svetlana Sidorkina, to recognize the right of Crimean Oleksandr Kolchenko to retain Ukrainian citizenship. The claim was denied, according to Crimea. Realities .

The defendant in the lawsuit, which is the Federal Migration Service of the Republic of Crimea, argued during the consideration of the statement of claim that Kolchenko applied for Russian citizenship and a Russian passport was issued to him in July 2014.

“According to Kolchenko himself, he did not write an application for recognition of Russian citizenship, but the FMS side claims that there is such an application,” said Svetlana Sidorkina, the defendant’s lawyer.

Sidorkin's lawyer filed an application with the Court of Appeal and is going to continue to seek the preservation of Ukrainian citizenship for Oleksandr Kolchenko.

Recall that on May 16, 2014, Kolchenko was detained by the FSB of Russia in the center of Simferopol. Some time later, he was transferred to Moscow, where he was placed in a pre-trial detention center in Lefortovo.

In May 2014, director Oleg Sentsov, historian Alexei Chirniy and lawyer Gennady Afanasyev were also detained. All four were charged with terrorism.

According to investigators, all four, being members of the Right Sector organization, had the goal of committing sabotage and terrorist acts in Simferopol, Sevastopol and Yalta, in particular, explosions on the night of May 8-9, 2014 of improvised explosive devices near the "Eternal Flame Memorial". ” and a monument to Vladimir Lenin in Simferopol, as well as the arson of the offices of the public organization “Russian Community of Crimea” and the representative office of the United Russia party in Simferopol in April 2014.

Kolchenko himself denies involvement in terrorist activities.

Despite the fact that Kolchenko considers himself a citizen of Ukraine, the investigation continues to insist on his Russian citizenship.

Earlier it became known that one of the defendants, Gennady Afanasyev, was found guilty of terrorism and sentenced to seven years in prison.

On January 26, 2015, the Moscow City Court dismissed Kolchenko's appeal to extend his detention. Thus, he will remain at Lefortovo until at least April 16.