Family of Ukrainain citizen Panov arrested in Crimea choose lawyer for him, but he currently can't meet with his client
KYIV. Aug 19 (Interfax) - The lawyer for Ukrainian citizen Yevhen Panov, who was arrested in Crimea, cannot visit his client, the Crimean Human Rights Group said, citing the detainee's brother Ihor Kotelyanets.
"To defend Yevhen Panov's rights, the family has signed an agreement with a lawyer to represent his rights in Crimea. However, the lawyer has not been able to meet with his client for several days now," the report said.
According to the relative, the investigator that the lawyer has spoken to said the detainee allegedly already has a lawyer.
Kotelyanets said his family does not trust other lawyers and believes that "the investigators are denying the lawyer chosen by the relatives on purpose."
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on August 10 that terrorist attacks plotted by Ukrainian intelligence had been averted in Crimea. According to earlier reports, Russian special services, with support from other defense and security agencies, prevented several attempts by groups of saboteurs and terrorists to break into Crimea from Ukrainian territory in the early hours of August 7 and 8, during which a Russian serviceman and an FSB officer were killed.
A court in Simferopol earlier put Ukrainian Zaporizhzhia region resident Panov and resident of Crimea Andrei Zakhtei, who are suspected of preparing sabotage activities, into custody.
A source in Russian law enforcement agencies told Interfax on Monday that the number of people detained as part of the inquiry into preparations to stage acts of sabotage in Crimea had increased to nine, and two of them had already been arrested. Another ten people are witnesses in this case.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the Main Intelligence Directorate and the National Security and Defense Council have denied the reports on Ukrainian saboteurs. The Defense Ministry also said the accusations made by Russia of attacks on the peninsula from mainland Ukraine were similarly groundless.
Panov's brother Ihor Kotelyanets says he believes Yevhen was abducted in the Zaporizhzhia region and taken to Crimea.
