Russians detain Spanish volunteer in Simferopol pre-detention centre

This was reported by the Ukrainian parliamentary human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets.

According to him, Spanish citizen Mariano Garcia Calatayuda, better known as Mario, disappeared from Kherson on 19 March 2022, when the city was occupied by the Russians. However, official confirmation from the military prosecutor's office of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has only now emerged. The Russians confirmed the information that the volunteer was in the Simferopol pre-detention centre.

In addition, it became known that Mario succumbed to torture.

According to a former cellmate of the Spanish volunteer, 75-year-old Mario is being tortured in the pre-detention centre by Russian security forces: he has bruises from blows to his legs, lost some of his teeth and was ill-treated by prison guards. His body is covered with scars. The Spanish consul, who has not even been informed of Mariano Garcia Calatayuda's detention, and the lawyer who has a warrant for him, are still not allowed to see him," said Lubinec.

The ombudsman calls on the international community to pay attention to the violation of humanitarian law by the Russian Federation and contribute to the release of the Isan volunteer from captivity.

We shall remind you that the Russians regularly violate the Women's Convention and hold civilians captive. For example, the occupiers have been holding a Ukrainian journalist captive for a year. Dmytro Hlyvnyuk was captured in Kiev Region in March 2022. The Ukrainian side has repeatedly tried to return the journalist, but the Russians disrupted this exchange.