Активист Буткевич заявил, что признал вину под угрозой пыток

During the court hearing, Butkevich stated that he pleaded guilty under the threat of torture. «On one hand, I was told that if I agreed, then after the conviction, I would be quickly exchanged for a Russian POW. Other arguments were also explained to me, such as the fact that if I refused, I would be subjected to various methods of physical coercion. Some of these methods were demonstrated to me,» Butkevich said.

Sentence based on a self-incrimination

Butkevich, a human rights defender who joined the ranks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was captured in June 2022 and convicted in March 2023. The court in the self-proclaimed «people’s republic» () found him guilty of firing a grenade launcher at a residential building in . The publication «Graty» reported at the time that Butkevich was in Kyiv at the time of the shelling and only arrived in the conflict zone ten days later.

During the appeal hearing at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, Butkevich’s lawyer requested that the phone billing record of the human rights defender and the testimony of a French woman be included in the case. Both documents prove that Butkevich was in Kyiv at the time of the alleged actions attributed to him, but the court refused to include them in the case, stating that it was «not within its competence». The lawyer also emphasized that the court found Butkevich guilty solely based on a self-incrimination, without any other expert opinions or evidence in the case.

Amnesty: Politically motivated case

The human rights organization considers the charges against Butkevich to be fabricated and links them to the desire of the Russian authorities to retaliate against him for his civic position and human rights activities.

Since 2008, Maxim Butkevich has been assisting refugees and migrants who found themselves in , and monitoring incidents of xenophobia and racism. He later worked in the office of the High Commissioner for Refugees in Eastern Europe.

In 2012, Butkevich founded the human rights center Zmina, and in 2013, he became a co-founder of the radio station «Hromadske». After the Russian invasion of and in 2014, Butkevich coordinated the Resource Center for Assisting Displaced Persons. After the start of Russia’s war against , he joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.