Nord Stream sabotage suspect alleges abuse in Italian jail

A Ukrainian man imprisoned in Italy and accused of involvement in the 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, has made serious allegations against his captors.

“I am being held under armed guard, in complete isolation and under constant surveillance,” the defendant, identified only as Serhij K in line with privacy laws, said in a letter quoted by his lawyer on Monday.

The man, who is due to be extradited to Germany for criminal proceedings, began a hunger strike more than a week ago “because the Italians are ignoring my requests and violating my rights as a prisoner of war and as a human being,” he said.

Lawyer Nicola Canestrini published the letter, which was written in Ukrainian and had not been delivered to him through official channels.

Recently, a court in Bologna had approved K’s transfer to the German authorities. However, Canestrini said he would bring the case before Italy’s Supreme Court in Rome again and lodge an appeal.

The court already stopped the extradition once before. It is unclear when the next hearing at the Court of Cassation will take place.

According to Canestrini, K’s detention raises serious questions about “compliance with international humanitarian law and the treatment of captured combatants abroad.”

His client, although an officer in the Ukrainian armed forces, is being “thrown away like an old shoe – forgotten by those who should have defended him,” the lawyer said.

Over the weekend, Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets expressed concern about K’s condition and stressed that his situation required immediate action.

The 49-year-old is considered the alleged mastermind behind the attacks on gas pipelines from Russia in the Baltic Sea three years ago following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

German prosecutors accuse him of jointly causing an explosion on the pipelines and of anti-constitutional sabotage. He is therefore to be tried in Germany.