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Ukrainian prosecutors launch criminal case against French deputies who visited Crimea

An MP claims that the Frenchmen face up to eight years in Ukrainian prisons and the loss of deputy mandates in France

© EPA/JASON SZENES

KIEV, August 31. /TASS/. Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office has opened a criminal case against French deputies who visited Crimea in July this year, People’s Front party deputy Georgy Logvinsky reported.

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Logvinsky posted on Facebook the prosecutor’s office’s response to his request on the issue.

The formal response of the supervisory body says that the prosecutor’s office on August 11 "started a pretrial investigation of criminal proceedings over a criminal offense envisioned by part 1 of Article 332-1 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code" ("Violation of the procedure of entry to Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territory").

Logvinsky claimed that the Frenchmen face up to eight years in Ukrainian prisons and the loss of deputy mandates in France.

On July 29-31, 2016, French parliamentarians led by Thierry Mariani were in Crimea, where they held meetings with the local authorities and population. This was their second trip to the peninsula. Like a year ago, the colleagues from France were accompanied by Russian State Duma deputy Leonid Slutsky.

On August 1, speaking at a TASS press conference, members of the French delegation expressed the view that Ukraine should accept it that Crimea reunified with Russia, and that’s "reality".

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