05/12/24 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 5 December, Marc Cools, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, expressed his “sadness” and “dismay” at the news of the death of Yevhen Matvieiev, “mayor of the temporarily occupied town of Dniprorudne in Ukraine, in Russian captivity”.
In his statement, published on 5 December, he reiterated his firm condemnation of the kidnappings of mayors and other local officials in the territories occupied by Russia and called for the immediate release of НоІа Prystan, Oleksandr Babych, Ihor Kolykhaiev and Anatolii Siryi.“All abductions and arbitrary detentions amount to grave human rights violations for which the accountability should be established and enforced”, concluded Marc Cools, after referring to reports confirming the widespread use of inhuman and degrading treatment and torture in Russian prisons. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)