Court in Crimea jails activist in retrial:
By the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
A court in Ukraine's Russia-controlled Crimea region has sentenced pro-Kyiv activist Volodymyr Balukh to three years and seven months in a high-profile retrial on a weapons- and explosives-possession charge.
The Rozdolne district court on January 16 also ordered Balukh to pay a 10,000-ruble ($175) fine.
In his final statement in court on January 15, Balukh reiterated that he was innocent and that the case against him will "never make me love my so-called new motherland," a reference to Russia.
He suggested the accusations against him were politically motivated and part of what Kyiv and rights groups say is a campaign of pressure on Crimeans who opposed Russia's takeover of the Black Sea peninsula.
"The tears of the mothers of those who today are fighting for their right to be free will [haunt] those who are persecuting people in Crimea," Balukh said. "But no matter what, victory will be ours. Glory to Ukraine!"
In August, the same court convicted Balukh and sentenced him to three years and seven months in prison. But an appeals court canceled the ruling, sent the case for additional investigation, and transferred Balukh to house arrest.
Balukh is one of dozens of Crimeans whom Russia has prosecuted in what rights groups say has been a persistent campaign to silence dissent since Moscow seized control over the Ukrainian region in March 2014.
He was arrested in December 2016, after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said explosives and 90 bullets were found in the attic of his home.
The search was conducted shortly after Balukh planted a Ukrainian flag in his yard and affixed a sign to his house that read "Heavenly Hundred Street, 18."
"Heavenly Hundred" is a term Ukrainians use for the dozens of people killed when security forces sought to disperse protesters in Kyiv whose demonstrations drove Russia-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych from power in February 2014.
After Yanukovych's ouster, Russia seized Crimea by sending in troops and staging a referendum dismissed as illegal by Ukraine, the United States, and a total of 100 countries.
The Russian takeover badly damaged Moscow's relations with Kyiv and the West and resulted in the imposition of sanctions by the European Union, the United States, and several other countries.
Rights groups say Crimea residents who opposed Russia's takeover have faced discrimination and abuse at the hands of the Moscow-imposed authorities.
In March 2017, the European Parliament called on Moscow to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who were in prison or other conditions of restricted freedom in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maryana Betsa condemned the court's January 16 ruling.
Betsa told RFE/RL that the court's decision was "illegal", adding that "the occupational authorities use our citizens as hostages of their aggression."
"We condemn the court's decision and express our protest to the Russian Federation.... Actually, Balukh is sentenced for his patriotic position, for a flag on his house. There are no doubts that Russia is trying to eradicate the Ukrainian, Crimean Tatar population in Crimea," Betsa said.
Police, protesters clash near parliament:
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- Police and protesters have clashed near the Ukrainian parliament, where lawmakers discussed legislation on the "reintegration" of regions held by Russia-backed separatists.
The clashes on January 16 started after some of the protesters torched tires and burned a Russian flag in an area near the Verkhovna Rada and a tent camp set up by antigovernment protesters last year.
Police and firefighters extinguished the burning tires and threw them toward the tent camp. Law enforcement officers also used a chemical spray during the confrontation.
Ukraine's national police reported that one officer had been wounded in the scuffles, and one protester had been taken into custody.
Kyiv police said earlier that more than 3,800 officers were deployed near government buildings and the parliament ahead of the session in the Rada, Ukraine's single-chamber parliament. They greatly outnumbered the few dozen protesters.
Demonstrators want lawmakers to swiftly pass a "reintegration" bill that states that Russia -- which controls Crimea and backs separatists who have held parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces in eastern Ukraine since 2014 -- is an aggressor.
Hotly Contested
The bill has been a hotly contested issue even before it passed in a first reading in October, amid scuffles between lawmakers. Opponents of the bill are displeased because they say it uncouples the issue of Russian-occupied Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and could lead to the restoration of trade with the territories under the control of the Russia-backed separatists because it does not include language to support the current ban, Rada Deputy Speaker and Samopomich (Self Reliance) party member Oksana Syroyid told Channel 5 news.
President Petro Poroshenko reluctantly cut all but humanitarian trade with the separatist-held parts of the region known as the Donbas in March 2017, under pressure from nationalist activists who had blocked rail and road routes between the two sides. The controversial move has made life even more difficult for those civilians living in the war-torn area, according to humanitarian groups.
Yuriy Boyko, leader of the Opposition Bloc, formerly the Party of Regions, claimed the bill "contradicts all international agreements and treaties" that Ukraine is party to in regard to solving the conflict, notably the February 2015 deal known as the Minsk accord.
Language regarding the Minsk accord, which has been criticized for not producing a lasting cease-fire -- let alone peace -- since it was signed, was removed after much debate ahead of the first reading of the bill.
Supporters of the bill, including lawmakers from the president’s ruling party and the People’s Front party of former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, say it is necessary for the defense of the country, the possible expansion of international sanctions against the Kremlin, for the peace process, and potential compensation for losses stemming from Russia’s military actions.
“Legislative recognition of these facts will extend to the Kremlin the international legal obligations of the invader,” Yatsenyuk said on Facebook on January 15.
The parliament said earlier that lawmakers might also discuss a bill on the creation of a Supreme Anticorruption Court, which President Petro Poroshenko proposed last month amid rallies demanding the adoption of such a law.
'IMF Letter'
The creation of an anticorruption court has been one of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) conditions for Ukraine to qualify for the next loan tranche of around $2 billion.
However, the online newspaper Ukrayinska Pravda reported on January 15 that the IMF has told Poroshenko's administration that it did not support the bill in its current form because it would not guarantee the court's independence.
Ukrayinska Pravda published what it said was the text of a January 11 letter from the IMF mission chief for Ukraine, Ron van Rooden, in which he wrote that the IMF has "serious concerns about the draft law."
"Several provisions are not consistent with the authorities' commitments under Ukraine's IMF-supported program," the letter said.
The IMF and other backers have repeatedly urged Ukraine to step up its fight against corruption. Western governments say tackling graft is crucial to curbing Russian influence.
Progress on reforms has been stalled since 2016, raising concerns in Ukraine and the West that little will be done ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019.