Luhansk transfers 60 convicts to Kyiv
LUHANSK. May 24 (Interfax) - The self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) has transferred 60 convicts to Kyiv; they will continue to serve their time in Ukrainian penitentiaries.
"Sixty persons convicted before 2014 were transferred to the Ukrainian side today. This is a goodwill gesture of the Luhansk People's Republic," Olga Kobtseva, the LPR representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine (TCG), said.
"The convicts expressed the wish to continue to serve their terms in the Ukrainian territory," Kobtseva said.
The transfer was accomplished on a bridge near the Kyiv-held town of Shchastya in the presence of representatives of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC).
Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Liudmyla Denisova, in turn, confirmed the transfer of convicts in a statement posted on Facebook.
This is the fifth stage of convicts' transfer from territories of the Luhansk region uncontrolled by Kyiv, Denisova said.
She said additionally that she was "ready to take in all Ukrainian citizens incarcerated in uncontrolled areas of Donbas who want to continue serving their time in the territory held by the Ukrainian government."