Former DPR leader sentenced to 12 years for torture in Crimea

Russian citizen Igor Bezler, a former leader of the DPR militants and an active participant in the Russian occupation of Crimea, involved in the torture of Ukrainians on the peninsula, was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison in Ukraine, Ukrainian prosecutor’s office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol announced on March 8.

Although the official announcement did not name Igor Bezler, it mentioned his well-known nickname “Bes”. The prosecutor’s office found that he was a participant in the Russian aggression, tortured AutoMaidan activists on the peninsula in 2014 and was involved in war crimes.

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“In March 2014, in Simferopol, under the leadership of the convict, his accomplices kidnapped activists, members of the AutoMaidan, and imprisoned them in the military commissariat,” the prosecutor’s office said.

“All the victims were held in unsuitable premises, blindfolded, without proper food and communication with their relatives. The convict personally used threats, torture, violence and inflicted bodily harm on some of them.”

The prosecution proved that Ukrainian activists in Crimea were illegally detained and tortured because of their pro-Ukrainian position, resistance to the occupation of the peninsula and obstruction of the illegal referendum.

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Back in 2021, it was reported that investigators of the SBU had completed the pre-trial investigation and submitted Igor Bezler’s case to the court.

What is known about Igor Bezler

In 2014, Bezler was one of the leaders of the DPR terrorist group, who committed numerous crimes on the territory of Ukraine.

In addition to participating in the occupation of Crimea, Bezler’s subversive group in 2014 took part in the seizure of the SBU building in Donetsk Oblast, and later in the seizure of the district department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Horlivka. Bezler’s militants also organized kidnappings and attacks on Ukrainian activists, civilians, MPs and military personnel in Donetsk Oblast, in particular in Horlivka and near Volnovakha.

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In February 2017, the UN published a report on sexual violence during the war in Ukraine. This report also mentions the crimes of Bezler’s militant associates, including the following:

“On Sep. 25, 2014, armed men from Bezler’s group abducted a woman and two of her colleagues (a man and a woman) from their workplaces,” the statement reads.

“They brought them to the seized administrative building of a coal mine in Horlivka. The three were told that they were under arrest. They were taken to another room with traces of blood. The man was beaten in front of the women until he lost consciousness. After that, both women were beaten and raped by at least seven people who interrogated them about where they kept money and valuables. One of the victims was tortured with electric shocks, with wires attached to her chest.”

After the MH17 crash in 2014, the SBU released intercepted telephone conversations in which Igor Bezler participated. In one of the recordings, he reported on the downing of the plane to the FSB. The Malaysian Boeing-777 crash occurred in Donbas on July 17, 2014. The Malaysia Airlines plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board were killed. The plane was shot down by a Russian Buk air defense system brought to the occupied territory of Ukraine.

Read also: Hague Court’s decision on MH17 case is first step on path of truth and accountability, says Borrell

Bezler led a part of the DPR militants until the fall of 2014, after which he probably left Ukraine.

In February 2023, HUR published an interception of a conversation involving Igor Bezler. At that time, Bezler and his interlocutor discussed the explosions during the farewell to the liquidated terrorist Olga Kachura (Korsa) in the area of the drama theater in occupied Donetsk in August 2022. They shared how they were persistently invited to the funeral, which seemed suspicious to them. Bezler suggested that this was a way to eliminate them.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine