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Occupeirs are trying to create the appearance of power -
Kreidenkova On Fake Courts In The Occupied Territories
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Occupeirs are trying to create the appearance of power — Kreidenkova on fake courts in the occupied territories
Interview: We talk to Veronika Kreidenkova about how the fake judicial system operates in the occupied territory of Ukraine and what threats it poses. The guest is Veronika Kreidenkova, Advocacy Manager of the DEJURE Analytical and Advocacy Centre.
On the establishment of occupation ‘courts’ in the occupied territories of Ukraine
Anastasia Bagalika: Currently, fake judicial bodies in the occupied territories, in particular in the territories that were occupied before 24 February 2022, are trying one of the co-founders of Hromadske Radio, a Ukrainian prisoner of war, human rights activist Maksym Butkevych. And I think such cases are very common in the occupied territories.
Veronika Kreidenkova: In fact, the creation of so-called ‘courts’ in the occupied territories is a practice that began in 2014. We saw it first in Crimea, because there was a so-called ‘agreement’ on Crimea’s accession to the Russian Federation. From that moment on, the Russian occupation authorities began to set up their local courts there and build their own justice system.
We have seen the same story in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. In fact, courts were created there under the name of the so called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) and “Luhansk People’s Republic” (LPR) respectively.
Unfortunately, we have seen that many judges who were previously Ukrainian and worked in the justice system in Ukraine have gone over to the side of the occupiers in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk.
We are talking about almost 400 judges who were appointed in Crimea and about 80 courts that were in Donetsk and Luhansk regions from 2014 to 2021 and continued to administer ‘justice’ in the occupied territories on behalf of the so-called “DPR” and “LPR”.
On the fake judicial system in the newly occupied territories
Anastasia Bagalika: Now we are talking about the fact that Russians are also trying to fit the newly occupied territories into this fake system. Tell us about these efforts.
Veronika Kreidenkova: It is a well-trodden path for Russians to create the appearance of any legitimate authority in the occupied territories. Unfortunately, it involves judges who used to be Ukrainian and betrayed their oath.
Recently, the case of Judge Iryna Ukhaniova, who was a judge of the Vovchansk District Court of Kharkiv Region, became known. She began to collaborate with the occupiers and, as reported by law enforcement agencies, persuaded the judges of her court to serve in the so-called ‘court’ of Kharkiv region, which is controlled by the occupiers.
Occupiers promised them a monetary reward of, I think, 10,000 rubles (100 EUR), which sounds very ridiculous.
But, as we can see, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies caught up with her. We hope this will happen to other such judges.
Unfortunately, the trend is that the occupiers are really trying to create the appearance of power. This is fraught with the risk that, firstly, they make a very good case for propaganda, because Ukrainian judges, in fact representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, are siding with the occupiers.
Secondly, it creates a certain appearance of authority for the local population. Accordingly, they can illegally detain people, keep them in detention centres, prisons and so on.
‘Judges who refuse to cooperate with the occupiers are killed or subjected to inhuman treatment’
Anastasia Bagalika: I would like to understand whether the Russians in the occupied territories are trying to recruit former Ukrainian judicial officers or whether they are bringing someone else.
Veronika Kreidenkova: It can be both. If we talk more about Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, for example, most of the ‘judges’ there are former Ukrainian judges or just court employees, local lawyers, etc.
It was a different story with the temporarily occupied Crimea, because the Russians used a different doctrine there. It was a qualification commission of the whole of Russia that announced the competition. That’s why we ended up with a bit of a mixed bag.
But we know of real cases when, for example, Yulia Matveeva, a judge of the Illichivsk District Court of Mariupol, was offered a position in the so-called ‘Supreme Court of the DPR’, according to her.
She refused. As a result, she and her husband were taken prisoner and tortured.
Unfortunately, this is not the only case when judges who refuse to cooperate with the occupiers are killed, as was the case in Chernihiv region, or subjected to inhuman treatment.
How does the fake judicial system work in the occupied Ukrainian territories?
Anastasia Bagalika: Let’s talk about the system they are building and the semblance of law they are operating under. What is it, and how does it differ or not differ from the Russian Federation itself and the territories that were occupied earlier?
Veronika Kreidenkova: Here we should start from 2014. As for Crimea, it was built according to Russian laws and the model they recognised. In accordance with their laws of governance, they established the institution of magistrates’ courts, military courts, and arbitration courts.
As for the so-called “LPR” and “DPR”, they copied a lot of Russian practices. But this is understandable, because they were both Russians and partly collaborators. But they still had the capacity to make some of their own regulations. That is why they adopted the so-called ‘Constitution of the DPR’ and a certain fundamental act in the so-called ‘LPR’.
On the basis of this, they began to create occupation courts, copying the Russian model to a great extent. There were military courts and arbitration courts, which in Ukraine actually consider such cases as commercial ones, and so on.
Anastasia Bagalika: What does it look like now in the newly occupied territories, and what are these documents?
Veronika Kreidenkova: Nothing has been formalised very much in the newly occupied territories yet, because, obviously, they do not have the time, capacity and effort to do so. After all, even recruiting judges is still a job. And very often we have seen that Ukrainian judges who remained in the occupied territories help in the selection of judges.
For example, there is one judge of the ‘Supreme Court of the DPR’ who continued to judge in the ‘Supreme Court’ and select new judges in the newly occupied territories.
‘The occupiers understand the value of this or that person’
Anastasia Bagalika: Perhaps you can explain why, in some cases, Ukrainian civilians who are tried on trumped-up terrorism cases and so on are sometimes left by Russians in the occupied territory, and sometimes taken to the territory of the Russian Federation and tried there?
Veronika Kreidenkova: It is difficult to explain any unambiguous logic here.
It may sound cynical, but you have to understand that they partially understand the value of a person.
Because the bigger the name of a person, the more valuable he or she will be for exchange, for their examples of propaganda, etc.
You also need to understand that there is an occupation going on, and if people have already been taken to the territory of the Russian Federation, it will be harder to bring them back.
On identifying those who work with Russians
Anastasia Bagalika: I want to understand how much Ukraine is currently working to identify and remember those who went to work with the Russians. I understand that the occupiers do not make this information publicly available, right?
Veronika Kreidenkova: In fact, it can be different. After all, if the occupiers did appoint someone as a judge, the so-called ‘decrees on appointment’ from the so-called ‘president of the DPR’ and so on appear in the public domain.
Therefore, this can be established. Back in 2021, DEJURE began to identify all the judges who had joined the occupation administration in Crimea. It was, as I said, about 400 judges who remained there to judge, went over to the side of the occupiers, passed all the competitions organised by the Russian Federation, etc. There were also 80 judges of the so-called “LPR and “DPR”.
This could be established through their published court decisions and decrees on their appointment. Actually, through the judges’ own pages, because they also tried to maintain them sometimes.
Official information comes from law enforcement agencies when a suspect has already been notified of suspicion or a case is being heard in court. Then it can be established as official information that the judge is definitely involved in collaboration.
How many are there now? Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we as an organisation have been tracking about ten such judges who definitely defected and in respect of which there are criminal proceedings.
As mentioned earlier, it was Irina Ukhaniova. There was also, for example, Ihor Kudryavtsev, a judge of the Starobilsk District Court of the Luhansk region, who, according to the investigation, contributed to the establishment of the occupation administration, participated in the creation and expansion of the courts of the so-called “LPR”.
Several of these judges are publicly known, but it is currently impossible to establish the final number because information is incomplete.
Ukrainian human rights activists emphasise that the ‘criminal cases’ against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian hostages in Russia and in the Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied by Russia are fake. This is worth remembering and understanding. There are thousands of such ‘cases’. As of July 2023, the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights counted almost 25,000 civilian hostages of the Russian Federation, while statistics on prisoners of war are difficult to find.
However, we understand that there are thousands of Ukrainian servicemen in Russian captivity. According to Alyona Verbytska, the Presidential Commissioner for the Rights of Defenders of Ukraine, about 3,400 Ukrainian servicemen were held captive as of early 2023.
On 14 June, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don (Russia) began the trial of 22 captured Azov battalion soldiers, including eight women and several civilians.
In a commentary to Hromadske Radio, Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Centre for Civil Liberties, stated that such actions by the Russian court constitute a war crime, as they violate a number of international humanitarian law norms. In particular, the recognition of civilians as prisoners of war, as well as the trial of prisoners of war for participating in combat.