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Crimea and Sevastopol

Suspected Crimean blockade organizer’s property may be confiscated

According to the prosecutor, the measure will be taken to compensate for the damage inflicted due to the committed crimes

Crimean top prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya Alexei Pavlishak/TASS

Crimean top prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya

© Alexei Pavlishak/TASS

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MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. The property of Crimea’s former deputy prime minister Lenur Islyamov, believed to be one of the republic’s blockade organizers, will be confiscated if he is found guilty by the court, Crimean top prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya said on Monday.

The measure will be taken to compensate for the damage inflicted due to the committed crimes, Poklonskaya said. "This property will compensate the damage, that means it will be confiscated and added to the state revenue," she said.

"Islyamov has been charged in absentia with committing an act of sabotage," Poklonskaya said, adding that investigation against the other perpetrators and organizers of the crime is underway.

Four transmission lines were supplying Crimea with electric power from Ukraine until November 20, when two pylons were blown up and a state of emergency declared. In the early hours of November 22, another two pylons were attacked.

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Some Crimean officials believe the blockade was organized by Islyamov and Ukraine’s MPs Mustafa Dzemilev and Refat Chubarov. They earlier officially announced plans to cut Crimea off power supplies.

Russia’s Federal Security Service has earlier said a criminal case was also opened against Islyamov for calls to violate Russia’s territorial integrity.

In early December, a court in Crimea ordered to arrest the property of Islyamov, the owner of the ATR TV channel, worth several dozen million rubles. The assets include land property in southern Crimea, popular resort Yalta, Moscow, as well as hotels and houses. Crimea’s prosecutors said they have revealed fraud schemes used to conceal Islyamov’s property.

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Massive power blackout in Crimea

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Crimea and Sevastopol

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