Alexey Bessarabov
- Criminal Code
- Article 222 part 3, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 222.1 part 3, Russian Criminal CodeArticle 281 part 2 item a applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
- Case category
- Terrorism cases
- Verdict
- Imprisonment (strict regime), Fine
- Sentence
- 14 years
- Date of verdict
- 2019-04-03
- Region
- Occupied territory of Sevastopol
- City
- Sevastopol
- Facility
- ФКУ «ИК № 1 УФСИН России по Ставропольскому краю»
- Address for letters
- 357000, Ставропольский край, с. Кочубеевское, ФКУ «ИК № 1 УФСИН России по Ставропольскому краю», Бессарабов Алексей Евгеньевич, 1976 г.р.
Recognition by human rights organisations
- Recognised as a political prisonerby Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, 19 May 2020
This is the assessment of the organisation named above, not ours. FACTUM reports it with attribution and does not make its own.
Case summary
On 9 November 2016, Bessarabov was detained in Sevastopol. He was accused of preparing explosions in Crimea. The investigation declared him a member of the "subversive-terrorist group of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine". After Bessarabov had been detained, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said that he had nothing to do with the intelligence directorate and there were no sabotage groups in Crimea. Bessarabov was arrested.
For several days after his arrest, Bessabarov's relatives could not find him and an independent lawyer was not allowed to visit him. During this time, the Federal Security Service circulated a video of Bessarabov confessing. The Crimean human rights group claims that the testimony was given under pressure and the video is a staged interrogation. As of now, Bessabarov refuses to plead guilty.
In March 2018, the Crimean Prosecutor's Office approved an indictment against Bessarabov on charges of preparation for sabotage as part of an organised group and illegal acquisition and storage of weapons, ammunition and explosives committed by an organised group. In April, the court returned the case to the prosecutor for correction. In August, the case started in court again.
On 4 April 2019, Bessarabov was sentenced to 14 years in a strict-regime penal colony.
Others charged under Article 222 part 3, Russian Criminal Code
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Source: this person’s record in the OVD-Info political persecution database
Published under CC BY 3.0. The criteria for treating a person as politically persecuted belong to OVD-Info; FACTUM relays their assessment and makes none of its own.
OVD-Info has been designated an «extremist» organisation in Russia — by decision of the Russian authorities, like other independent human rights and media projects.