Prisoners convicted their own ‘defender’
The Leninskyi District Court of Vinnytsia has satisfied the lawsuit of two prisoners of the Stryzhavka Correctional Colony (SVK) No. 81 against the head of the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group (VHP), Dmytro Hroisman. The ‘convicted’ human rights activist only learned that the court had taken place and reached a decision on 18 September from a news feed of an information agency.
In June, Dmytro Hroisman informed the public that the VHP had received information about an emergency incident at SVK No. 81: “that, protesting against the inhumane treatment by the administration of VK No. 81, the convicts Serhiy Shevchenko and Denys Ivanyshyn committed acts of self-harm, inflicting lacerations upon themselves”. These two prisoners filed a lawsuit against Dmytro Hroisman in which they demanded that he retract the information in the media regarding their ‘self-harm’. In addition, they asked the court to collect moral damages from the VHP coordinator—two thousand hryvnias in favour of each of the plaintiffs.
This was already the second court hearing in Dmytro Hroisman’s case.
“The summons for the first one, in August, arrived on the day of the hearing itself,” says Dmytro Hroisman. “And this time, we received the summons a day before the court. I was on a business trip in Khmelnytskyi and requested by telegram that the court postpone the consideration of the case until next week. We have not received any response to this day.”
The head of SVK No. 81, Mahomed Mahomaiev, confirmed to “20 Minutes” that two prisoners of the colony had indeed won the case against Hroisman in court.
“The court satisfied all their demands, including the compensation for moral damages,” stressed Mr. Mahomaiev. “But I am the head of the colony and I do not interfere in the personal lives of the prisoners, so I will not comment on this court decision in any way.”
Dmytro Hroisman says that after the VHP receives the default court judgment, he will apply to the Leninskyi District Court with a request for a review of the default judgment and will ask for a retrial of the case.
“If it is evident from the text of the court’s decision that the judge clearly violated the principles of procedural law, we will apply to the regional prosecutor's office with a request to hold the judge criminally liable,” said the VHP coordinator.