Iryna Danylovych
Iryna Danylovych – human rights defender, journalist, author of the project “Crimean medicine without a cover”. She collaborated with independent mass media, including Inzhyr media project and Crimean Process initiative.
On December 28, 2022, according to the Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation Iryna was sentenced to 7 years of imprisonment and a fine of 50,000 rubles for “Illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation, forwarding or carrying of explosive substances or explosive devices” by the Feodosia City Court of Crimea.
Iryna Danylovych was born on May 6, 1979 in the city of Kozyany, Vitebsk Region of Russia. In 1983 her family moved to Crimea, where Iryna went to school and later – to medical institute (the department of narcology). Due to lack of money, Iryna later transferred to study at the Simferopol Medical College at the paramedic-midwifery department.
In October 2020, Iryna Danylovych was fired from Feodosia Drug Rehabilitation Center for demanding payment promised by the occupational authorities for working with patients who contracted the coronavirus. Danylovych was in charge of the Crimean branch of the Doctors’ Alliance, a trade union movement, and during the coronavirus pandemic spoke publicly about problems in the Crimean health care system.
In December 2021, because of Iryna’s human rights activities, the pressure on her began to build up, following a series of discrediting publications about Iryna on the “Fox and Crow” Telegram channel claiming that the human rights defender was a “foreign agent”.
On the evening of April 29, 2022, the human rights activist was kidnapped in Koktebel while on her way home from work. On the same day, OMON officers searched Iryna’s house, seizing books and technical equipment, and informed her relatives about an order issued to arrest Iryna, but did not tell them of her whereabouts.
On May 7, 2022, Iryna was sentenced to 1 month and 29 days of arrest on suspicion of “illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of explosive substances or explosive devices” under Part 1 of Art. 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
On May 11, 2022, 13 days after the abduction, it turned out that the human rights defender was held in the Simferopol pre-trial detention center.
At the end of July 2022, while imprisoned, Iryna managed to pass on information about inhumane treatment and threats against her made by representatives of the Russian Federal Security Service.
Due to Danylovych’s constant complaints against the administration of the detention center, the human rights defender was transferred to a prison cell without heating, where she fell ill with otitis media and almost lost her hearing due to lack of medical assistance. A day before the verdict was announced, an ambulance was called, but the doctors refused to admit Iryna to the hospital.
On December 28, 2022, the Feodosia City Court of Crimea announced Iryna’s sentence.
Unmarried.
