A prosecutor in Ukraine's Russia-controlled Crimea region has asked a court to sentence pro-Kyiv activist Volodymyr Balukh to five years and one month in prison in a high-profile retrial on a weapons and explosives possession charge.
In his final statement in court on January 15, Balukh reiterated that he was innocent and that the case against him would "never make me love my so-called new motherland" -- a reference to Russia.
He suggested that the accusations against him were politically motivated and part of what Kyiv and rights groups say is a campaign of pressure on Crimeans who opposed Russia's takeover of the Black Sea peninsula.
"The tears of the mothers of those who today are fighting for their right to be free will [haunt] those who are persecuting people in Crimea," Balukh said. "But no matter what, victory will be ours. Glory to Ukraine!"
After the prosecutor and Balukh spoke, the judge adjourned the trial and said the verdict would be pronounced on January 16.
In August, the Rozdolne District Court convicted Balukh and sentenced him to three years and seven months in prison. But an appeals court cancelled the ruling, sent the case for additional investigation, and transferred Balukh to house arrest.
One Of Dozens
Balukh is one of dozens of Crimeans whom Russia has prosecuted in what rights groups say has been a persistent campaign to silence dissent since Moscow seized control over the Ukrainian region in March 2014.
He was arrested in December 2016, after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said explosives and 90 bullets were found in the attic of his home.
The search was conducted shortly after Balukh planted a Ukrainian flag in his yard and affixed a sign to his house that read Heavenly Hundred Street, 18.
The Heavenly Hundred is a term Ukrainians use for the dozens of people killed when security forces sought to disperse protesters in Kyiv whose demonstrations drove Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014.
After Yanukovych's ouster, Russia seized Crimea by sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by Ukraine, the United States, and a total of 100 countries.
The Russian takeover badly damaged Moscow's relations with Kyiv and the West and resulted in the imposition of sanctions by the European Union, the United States, and several other countries.
Rights groups say Crimea residents who opposed Russia's takeover have faced discrimination and abuse at the hands of the Moscow-imposed authorities.
In March 2017, the European Parliament called on Moscow to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who were in prison or other conditions of restricted freedom in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists.