No pardon granted: Ukrainian journalist lands up in Belarus penal colony


Pavlo Sharoiko, a coorespondent of UA:Ukrainian Radio, was transferred from the KGB detention centre to Babruysk penal colony Nr 2.

The transfer took place at the end of 2018, Ambassador of Ukraine to Belarus Igor Kizim told tut.by.

The journalist’s wife came to see him in the colony; a Ukrainian consul is going to visit him on January, 23.

In October, the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) said that swapping Sharoiko for Yury Palityka, a Belarusian citizen arrested in Ukraine, was impossible. At the same time, the Ukrainian might be pardoned, KGB chief Valery Vakulchyk said.

UA: Ukrainian Radio employee Pavlo Sharoiko was arrested in Minsk in October, 2017.

According to the KGB spokesman Dzmitry Pabyarzhyn, Sharoiko, an officer of Ukraine’s military intelligence, worked undercover as a radio correspondent and created a spy network of the citizens of Belarus. Sharoiko’s work was coordinated by Igor Skvortsov, who ‘acted under the guise of the Ukrainian embassy counselor in Belarus’, Pabyarzhyn said. Skvortsov was declared persona non grata and expelled from Belarus. In November 2017, Sharoiko was accused of espionage.

In 2018, Pavlo Sharoiko was sentenced to eight years in prison. The trial of the Ukrainian citizen which began in February was held behind closed doors.

Ukrainian government agencies have repeatedly refuted the claim by the KGB of the alleged involvement of Pavlo Sharoiko in espionage and his being an intelligence officer.

ІІ, belsat.eu

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