Leonid Pasichnyk, the leader of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territory of the Luhansk region, was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison.
Points of attention
- The leader of the occupation administration of the Russian Federation in the Luhansk region was convicted for signing a "treaty" with Moscow and organizing a pseudo-referendum on "joining" the Russian Federation.
- The court's verdict provides for imprisonment for 12 years with confiscation of property and a ban on holding positions in government bodies for 13 years.
- The court found Pasichnyk guilty of encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and collaborative activities based on the evidence collected by the SBU.
"LNR" gauleiter Pasichnyk was sentenced to 12 years in prison
According to the case file, on the eve of February 24, 2022, Pasichnyk signed the so-called "agreement on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance" between the LPR terrorist organization and Moscow.
Later, the Kremlin used such decisions as a formal pretext for launching a full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine.
Subsequently, Pasichnyk organised a pseudo-referendum on the "accession" of the temporarily occupied part of the territory of the Luhansk region to the aggressor country.
According to the results of a fake plebiscite, he signed an "agreement on the inclusion of the region" into the Russian Federation with dictator Vladimir Putin. After that, the "LPR" Gauleiter organised the participation of temporarily captured communities in Russian "elections to legislative bodies."
Court verdict for Pasichnyk
The SSU reported that the trial took place in an absentia special court proceeding (in the accused's absence).
Based on the totality of the committed crimes, the court sentenced Pasichnyk to 12 years of imprisonment with the confiscation of all his property.
Also, the criminal is deprived of the right to hold positions related to the performance of organisational-managerial and administrative-economic functions in authorities, institutions, enterprises and organisations, regardless of the form of ownership, for a period of 13 years.
Based on the evidence gathered by the investigators of the Security Service, the court found Pasichnyk guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
Chapter 2 of Article 110 (encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, committed by a group of persons following a prior conspiracy);
Chapter 5 of Article 111-1 (collaborative activity).
It is noted that the prescribed punishments were added to the perpetrator's sentence, which provided for a longer term of imprisonment than is provided for in the sanctions articles for the incriminated crimes.
The term of serving the punishment will be calculated from the date of actual detention of the person involved.
