Terrorists Capture Luhansk Judge Activist

According the chairman of Patriot volunteer organization and member of the hostage exchange negotiating group, Oleh Kotenko, Pro-Russian militants from the Luhansk People’s Republic terrorist organization (LPR), kidnapped Vitaliy Rudenko, the Judge of the Luhansk Court of Appeals, three weeks ago.

In the hope of securing a swift exchange, Ukrainian authorities kept quiet about the abduction. Apparantly, the judge agreed with a man he knew from the “LPR” that he would help him with a so-called “green corridor” so that he could visit the town of Krasnodon and bury his parents. Once the judge drove to the checkpoint, he was stopped and ID’ed. The local “MGB” (Security Service) were called on the scene and the judge was arrested. Immediately after the arrest, a phone report was received and the negotiation process started immediately. Despite earlier hopes of his early release, the militants chose to put him on an exchange list.  Five days ago Vitaly Rudenko was charged with “high treason”. The judge is accused of allegedly having ruled to arrest a director of the local utility service, which led to the households in the region being left without water supply.  Now he is held in a pre-trial detention facility. A statement also said he had not been tortured. The negotiator said that the prisoner had not pleaded guilty. According to Rudenko’s wife, at the same time, he had to sign some documents.

A proposal had been put forward (earlier) to the militants to exchange three detainees for each captured Ukrainian citizen. In turn, the militants demanded an all-for-all swap.

 

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