Ex-mayor of Sloviansk Nelya Shtepa, accused of infringement upon the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine and participation in the activities of terrorist group, was transferred to the punishment cell of Kharkiv remand prison. This was reported to Ukrinform agency by the lawyer Dmytro Marchenko.
"As of today, Shtepa was changed the confinement conditions in the remand prison for the third time from the beginning of week: she was transferred to a punishment cell for 10 days, allegedly because she refused to leave her cell after 22:00. As a result, her health broke down", - the lawyer noted.
However, according to him, the day before, Oktiabrsky district court of Kharkiv satisfied a motion of the defence about Shtepa's confinement conditions and the lack of medical assistance and ordered to provide acceptable conditions for the arrested person.
The report recalls that on August 24, after the next meeting of Leninsky district court of Kharkiv in online mode in the matter of the ex-mayor of Sloviansk Nelya Shtepa, she was transferred to another pretrial detention facility, where, according to the lawyer, there is no running water, and in hot weather her blood pressure increased, so she needed medical assistance.
On August 23, at the trial, Shtepa filed a petition for full release, in connection with the fact that for 3 years of arrest the court did not provide direct evidence of her guilt. The court rejected the motion.
At the trial, 6 witnesses from the declared eight were already questioned, none confirmed her guilt. The next court session is scheduled for September 19.
On July 26, the Leninsky district court of Kharkiv extended her stay in custody without the possibility of making a pledge until September 21, 2017.
Shtepa was detained on July 11, 2014. At the trial, she explained that she urged Putin to enter Sloviansk under the threat of terrorists, she was beaten by terrorists, and interviews for Russian publications were made "at gunpoint". She faces a life sentence.