Pretrial investigation against Russian fishing vessel captain Gorbenko completed in Ukraine

Vladimir Gorbenko, the captain of the Russian fishing vessel Nord, has been notified of the completion in Ukraine of the pretrial investigation into the criminal case against him.

Gorbenko is charged with illegal fishing and violations of the procedures governing entry and departure of "the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine."

"On August 29, 2018, the captain of the fishing vessel Nord was told of the completion of the pretrial investigation into the criminal case against him involving illegal fishing and violations of the procedures governing entry and departure of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine (Article 249, Article 332-1 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code)," the press service for the Kyiv-based office of the prosecutors of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea said in a report.

The pretrial investigation showed that the citizen of Ukraine, being captain of the vessel Nord, "violated the procedures governing entry and departure of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine by the vessel's departure of the closed sea port Kerch in Crimea."

He is also charged with illegally fishing in the Sea of Azov without valid permits.

After the suspect and his lawyers become familiar with the case materials, an indictment will be sent to the Kyiv Court of Appeals, which will decide on the jurisdiction and further trial of the case on its merits, the prosecutor said.

As reported, Ukrainian State Border Guard Service officials detained the Nord with its ten crewmembers on March 25.

The vessel's captain Vladimir Gorbenko was charged with violating the procedure for entering or leaving Ukraine's occupied territory in order to infringe on the country's interests. The captain was later notified of suspicion of another crime, illegal fishing.

The Kherson City Court ordered him to assume a personal obligation. Gorbenko stayed at his relatives' in Melitopol, Zaporizhia region of Ukraine, during the pretrial investigation.

On June 19, the Kherson City Court declined a motion to prolong Gorbenko's obligation not to visit the territory of Crimea.

The other crewmembers were charged with illegally crossing the border, an offense punishable by a fine of 100 to 300 non-taxable minimum incomes or up to 15 days of administrative arrest.