Prisoners in Ukrainian frontline territories remain most vulnerable during war – lawyers

Prisoners in frontline territories often only have remote access to their lawyers and remain the most vulnerable group in wartime conditions, according to Barristers law firm partners Oleksiy Shevchuk and Oleksandr Shadrin.

"Prisoners remain the most defenseless in this regard. They cannot leave their cells during an air raid to go to a shelter. Sometimes their proximity to the frontline or to military facilities becomes critical – or, as in the case of the Kyiv pre-trial detention center, its location next to the Lukianivska metro station," the lawyers told Interfax-Ukraine.

According to the Ministry of Justice, following the deadly incident at Belenkivska Correctional Colony, evacuation has begun at several facilities: the Zaporizhia pre-trial detention center, Volniansk Correctional Facility No. 11, and Kamianske Correctional Colony No. 101.

"This information is partly confirmed by word of mouth among inmates. For instance, one of Shadrin's clients currently held at the Zaporizhia pre-trial detention center reported that they were told of plans to transfer them to the Dnipro pre-trial detention center," the lawyers said.

They added that transfers from the Zaporizhia pre-trial detention center to the appellate court are no longer taking place.

"At best, there is a videoconference – if electricity and internet are available. If only the inmate is relocated but the court remains in the same region, the issue of ensuring or not ensuring personal participation in hearings (at least at the trial stage) inevitably arises," they noted.

Shevchuk and Shadrin stressed that access to lawyers in frontline territories is often limited to remote communication.

"Many lawyers have been mobilized or relocated to safer regions. Naturally, this situation may create problems in ensuring the right to a fair and adversarial trial, which requires the ability to have confidential communication with an attorney without police or Security Service officers present," the lawyers said.

They also pointed out that since the start of the full-scale invasion, several correctional colonies and pre-trial detention centers ended up under occupation together with inmates and staff – some of whom were later accused of treason or collaboration.

"For example: a dog handler at a penitentiary facility in Kherson was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with a 10-year ban on holding similar positions [as recorded in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions]. Prisoners are often pressured to join the armed forces of the aggressor state; refusal can mean a grenade thrown into a cell or execution by gunfire," the lawyers said.

They further noted that penitentiary institutions remain severely underfunded and conditions of detention are largely inhumane, as confirmed by numerous European Court of Human Rights rulings, particularly due to overcrowding.

"After the repeal of the 'Savchenko law' (a 2015 law that allowed one day of pre-trial detention in a pre-trial detention center to count as two days of prison time), the problem of overcrowding in pre-trial detention centers and correctional colonies re-emerged. This is fueled by the criminalization of theft and other property crimes, which have now been classified as felonies under the new wartime provision applied automatically. Another factor is the rising number of military personnel and treason suspects – categories for which legislators mandated pre-trial detention without alternatives," the lawyers said.

"These circumstances are expected to become the subject of new cases before the ECHR," Shevchuk and Shadrin predicted.

According to media reports, Ukraine lost control over 28 penitentiary facilities in occupied areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea in 2014, where about 20,000 inmates were held. In 2022, another 12 institutions with more than 3,000 people fell under occupation.

The Justice Ministry reports that since the start of the full-scale invasion, 10 penitentiary facilities have been evacuated from combat zones, with 12 evacuation operations carried out, though the specific facilities have not been publicly disclosed.