THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The case of Ukrainian journalist and political prisoner Iryna Danylovych is the first concerning repressions against Crimeans after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, which was communicated by the European Court of Human Rights. The ECHR’s jurisdiction does not currently extend to russia, but the consideration of the political prisoner’s complaints will attract significant attention of the international community to it.
This was stated in a commentary by Suspilne Crimea by Serhii Zayets, a lawyer in the ECHR case.
“The court will weigh the evidence that has been provided, and the court will come to a conclusion about whether the actions of the russian federation violated the European Convention on Human Rights. And this is a legal qualification. This will remain in history, if you like, like the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal, which described the atrocities of the fascists during World War II. But it is also important for us here and now that Iryna Danylovych can feel that she is remembered and fought for,” he said.
Also, says Serhii Zayets, russia will probably not participate in the process and will not provide an answer.
“The main principle of international law in this case is that treaties must be respected. And russia is responsible for everything it did during the period of validity of this treaty. And the period of validity of the treaty for russia is until September 16, 2022. The fact that russia is now refusing to recognize and implement the decisions made by the European Court, and it doesn’t matter whether it concerns 2022 or earlier, they said: “We don’t care, we will not implement and recognize these decisions”. These are the problems of the russian federation, because this hurts the reputation of the russian federation,” he said.
According to the lawyer, it is difficult to predict when the court’s decision will be, because there are many such complaints under consideration.
“In general, the European Court of Human Rights has dozens of complaints concerning Crimeans, if not hundreds. It’s just that the specificity of Danylovych’s complaint is that it concerns events after the start of the full-scale invasion. And since russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in 2022, and since September 16, 2022, russia has ceased to be a party to the European Convention, it is no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the European Court,” he says.
As earlier reported, the European Court of Human Rights has officially begun considering two complaints by Iryna Danylovych against russia.
“These are cases No. 6579/23 (filed on January 15, 2023), which concerns unlawful deprivation of liberty, and No. 4065/25 (filed on January 28, 2025) concerning her inclusion in the russian register of so-called ‘foreign agents’. The court found the complaints sufficiently substantiated to formally request written explanations from the respondent state regarding possible violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court invited the Government of Ukraine to join the proceedings as a third party. Unlike russia, Ukraine usually presents its positions in such cases,” the organization Crimea.SOS wrote.
What is known about Iryna Danylovych
Iryna Danylovych disappeared on April 29 in the temporarily occupied Crimea while returning home from work. On the same day, occupation forces searched for her house in the village of Vladyslavivka near Feodosia, where she lived with her parents, and confiscated her phone and equipment.
She went on a hunger strike on March 21 after several months of trying to get medical help – her health had deteriorated sharply in the detention center, especially after her sentence at the end of last year.
Danylovych fainted while being transported to the illegal ‘Feodosia City Court’ to complete her review of the criminal case materials. In addition, she is going to go on a hunger strike because of the bullying.
On April 6, the journalist ended her hunger strike in response to a promise to take her from the Simferopol pre-trial detention center to a clinic for examination and treatment in the coming days.
On June 29, the occupied Crimean Supreme Court commuted the sentence of citizen journalist and activist Iryna Danylovych, who was previously sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of possessing an explosive device. According to the appellate court’s decision, the sentence was reduced by one month.
In November 2025, it was reported that Danylovych was being held in unsanitary conditions and was not receiving proper medical treatment.
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