Recently, we have been talking a lot about European values. It is one thing to observe these values from the outside, and quite another to be in the thick of things and experience all their charms.
Mark Sokolovskyi, a citizen of Ukraine, whom we are discussing on our website, was held for two years in the detention centers of the Netherlands, Zaanstad and Schiphol, in inhumane conditions. This is just one example of "true European values."
In January 2024, a journalist from the online publication "The Other Side of the Dialogue" visited the Netherlands to find out on the spot what was really happening to Mark in Dutch prisons. The editors sent a request to all Dutch authorities that are somehow related to Sokolovskyi's case. In the requests to the Ministry of Justice and Defense, headed by Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, the requests to the management of the Schiphol and Zaanstad prison complexes contained only two questions: permission to interview Mark Sokolovskyi, and the possibility for officials to comment on the situation regarding the detention of Mark Sokolovskyi in inhuman conditions.
The requests were sent in early January, two weeks before the journalist's visit to the Netherlands, taking into account that when the government's bureaucratic system would consider the requests, the journalist would already be under the walls of the prison complexes. It is clear that neither the Dutch bureaucratic system, nor the minister, nor the management of the prison facilities allowed Mark Sokolovskyi to meet with them. There were other requests, already directly in the Netherlands, but they remained unanswered.
How surprised the editors were when, a month and a half after the request, a response was received from the Skhinpol court complex. Look at how a legally reputable European state blatantly lies to the media.
A bit of chronology from the story of Mark Sokolovskyi.
On January 5, the editorial office appealed to the management of the Schinpol prison complex with a request to provide an opportunity to interview Mark Sokolovskyi, who had been held in the Dutch prison in Zaanstad for two years. After another unsuccessful extradition attempt on January 12, 2024, Sokolovskyi was placed in the Schinpol court complex, which is located closer to the Amsterdam airport. On January 7, 2024, Mark managed to board a US plane and was extradited to America.
We will talk about extradition separately.
Today, we are talking about the response from the management of the Schinpol prison, which is essentially an outright lie.
- Dear sir or madam!
In response to your request to interview Mr. Sokolovskyi, I am sending you my response.
Mr. Sokolovskyi is being extradited from the Zaanstad Judicial Complex to the United States of America, so it is not possible to fulfill your request for an interview with Mr. Sokolowski.
Let's assume that I have informed you sufficiently.
Signature of the deputy head of Skhinpol.
Does this happen only in the Dutch government, where the Ministry of Justice and Defense is headed by Dilan Yesilgoz-Zegerius, or is this attitude a European norm?
Why did it happen that the Skhinpol judicial complex responded to us only after Mark Sokolovskyi's extradition?
Let's try to figure it out together.
During the attempted extradition to the United States on January 12, 2024, Mark Sokolovskyi was injured and beaten with the use of physical force, which led to loss of consciousness.
Back in January of this year, we wrote about the inhumane detention of Mark Sokolovskyi in prison and the fact that on January 12 he could not be extradited to the United States due to his health condition.
And here is an interesting fact. The editors of the site are closely following Mark's case and are in constant contact with his lawyers. And here is a message we received two days ago from a Dutch lawyer:
"I am sorry to hear that Mark is in a bad condition.
I still haven't received the MRI scans from the AMC hospital in Amsterdam, where Mark was examined on January 12 after the Americans refused to admit him.
I will continue to search for them."
Officials from the Ministry of Justice and Defense of the Netherlands are actually concealing the fact that Mark Sokolovskyi was beaten and held in inhumane conditions. Back on February 7, the lawyer appealed to the employees of the Ministry of Justice and Defense with a request to provide Mark Sokolovskyi's medical records:
"Dear Mrs. Hanrat, Dear Mrs. Eckart,
Thank you for your message regarding the planned extradition. I would like to receive from you the results of the check on the client's fitness to fly. He himself categorically believes that this is not the case, and so far I have not received any new confirmation from an independent doctor that the client is fit to be transported. Therefore, he once again requests the relevant Dutch authorities to prevent his extradition on the basis of his vulnerable medical condition. I am hereby sending you this request again.
You will also find a letter from my client to the Minister containing my client's complaints about his treatment. I ask Ms. Eckart to forward this letter and to do everything necessary as a representative of the ministry in this matter. The complaints mainly relate to the treatment of the client during the previous attempt to extradite him (January 12, 2024). According to the client, violence was used. During my visit to the client, I was also able to observe (and document in a photograph, see Annex) that the client had a black eye.
If, despite the above request to prevent extradition, extradition is nevertheless carried out, I would ask that additional attention be paid to the careful handling of this vulnerable requested person.
Sincerely yours"
Mark Sokolovskyi, upon the fact of the attempted extradition on January 12, 2024, wrote a complaint to the Ministry of Justice and Defense of the Netherlands, which was handed over by the lawyer to the Ministry's employees, and in which his client argued the following to the Ministry:
"Until the day of extradition, scheduled for 12.01.2024, I was held in solitary and cold confinement for 31 days, restricted in everything and constantly hungry. For 31 days I did not breathe air and did not see the sun. My chronic diseases worsened, and the doctors did not respond to my complaints. I was not prescribed any treatment, and I needed medication very much. Physically and psychologically, I was exhausted every day, I was tormented by hallucinations, and this caused severe nausea.
On the night of January 11-12, 2024, I felt especially bad: I was dizzy, had an attack of hallucinations, fear increased, it seemed to me that the walls were closing in on me and would crush me. I was very nauseous. The nausea increased, uncontrollable weakness appeared, and I could no longer crawl to the toilet. There was nothing in my stomach, but the spasms and vomiting were so strong that I was vomiting water: I felt wet clothes and a wet mattress on the floor. I thought I was dying. I hoped that the guards would see my condition on the video camera, call a doctor and help me. At about 6 am, the door opened: I hoped it was the guards or a doctor. My condition was so bad that I was vaguely aware of what was happening. I had a hard time understanding that several people came in and ordered me to get up, as the day of my extradition to the United States was scheduled for today. Once again, I faced a violation of my rights: no one informed me in advance that I would be extradited on that day. I still have a case number V-2912150436 in the Migration Service and I was supposed to give an interview on Tuesday, January 16, 2024.
Accordingly, I could not even imagine that this morning, on January 12, 2024, I would be extradited without warning, in a state of near unconsciousness. I would have liked to stand up at the request of the people who entered, but I did not have the strength. I started asking them to call a doctor because my condition was critical. No one called a doctor, and I started to panic: how can I get on a plane for a long flight in this condition? I was afraid that I would be tied to a chair, that I would not have enough air. That is, I had another panic attack and needed medical attention. I begged, asked to call a doctor, asked to call my lawyer, asked to be allowed to make a call. Nothing was done. Instead, I was subjected to brutal physical force. They started wrapping me, completely helpless, in wet clothes (remnants of vomit), in some thin blanket and dragging me somewhere. They broke my arms and held my legs. I couldn't turn my head, and this made my fear increase, and my panic attack grew."
From a conversation with Mark Sokolovskyi's official representative, Olena Nekhayeva:
"Mark had no (and never had in his life) suicidal tendencies. He never had bad thoughts. He lived a normal life and as a normal person without bad habits. He went in for sports and took care of his health. In Mark's case, there are medical reports from more than one medical professional, where he was ordered to strictly adhere to a healthy lifestyle, and most importantly, he was not allowed to interrupt the treatment that was prescribed in Ukraine. But, after he was arrested in March 2022, from the first day of his detention, it was stated that Mark had health problems. We and Mark have repeatedly appealed to both the Dutch Minister of Justice and Defense and the judges not to interrupt his treatment, as this could lead to serious consequences. All our requests were ignored.
We wrote complaints for 2 years, we notified the Ministry of Justice, the prison, the courts, to prevent Mark's stressful psychological breakdown because he may have mental problems. Instead of providing him with medical treatment, to help him psychologically, they gave Mark a large amount of paracetamol, which affects the central nervous system and eventually, all together, led to nervous exhaustion.
Throughout Mark's stay in prison, the administration, intentionally or not, put Mark under stress. He has a plate on his face after an operation in Ukraine, so it broke off and is now lying on his teeth. Mark has constant itching, his body itches, and he scratches it until it bleeds. The situation in the prison is such that people commit suicide. In the neighboring cell, a prisoner hanged himself. Mark's cellmate, after being in the punishment cell and being released, threw himself in front of a train. In such an environment, Mark could not help but have a nervous breakdown. At the same time, instead of helping, the management of Zaanstad placed Mark in inhumane conditions in the punishment cell, explaining that Mark would be safe there.
Mark was not placed in a medical facility, Mark was not provided with medical care, but instead was placed in a punishment cell. At the same time, they lied that Mark was on the waiting list for a hospital where he would receive appropriate treatment. In fact, the prison administration subjected Mark to inhuman torture, which made him hallucinate. Mark spoke about this to the prison administration, but no one heard him, and he was humiliated and abused every time. Mark was constantly stripped naked, constantly searched for something in his intimate parts. Mark went to the toilet with female guards under their supervision. He was not always taken to the toilet when he needed it, he could not stand it and defecated in the corner of the cell, then they made him clean it up with his hands."
From Mark Sokolovskyi's complaint to the Minister of Justice and Defense of the Netherlands:
"Since I was not given the opportunity to change clothes, I was left in the same thin prison clothes I had been wearing for a long time, which were now wet. It was cold outside, the season was winter. And I was being dragged into a vehicle in these thin, wet clothes. My emotional state was so panicked that I tried to resist, although I had no strength. I felt only one thing: I needed medical help. I always repeated: can I see a doctor?
The doctor was never called to me.
They threw me on the floor of the vehicle, the floor was cold and dirty. They laid me face down, and to prevent me from getting up, one of the escorts put his foot in his shoe on my head, pressing my face to the floor. They were taking me for about 15-20 minutes. I was very cold, I was wearing thin and wet clothes, cold air was blowing from below, my whole body was numb, stomach cramps and vomiting continued. I asked to be allowed to sit down. I was not allowed to sit down, but the guard pushed my face even further to the floor with his foot. I felt like something was bursting in my head. I started to read prayers out loud, but my prayers were interrupted by loud music. For a while I lost consciousness, then I came to, everything was swimming before my eyes. I was brought to the airport, also dragged from the vehicle, forced to move. I kept asking: "A doctor," "Call me." I was trying to draw attention to myself because I was really sick, and I didn't understand why I was being taken somewhere in the cold, in thin wet clothes, and not given the medical care I needed so badly. At the airport, they took me to a blue room, stripped me naked and started taking pictures of all parts of my body, it was very humiliating. They put a diaper on me and gave me other clothes, handcuffed my legs and arms. I kept asking to call a doctor, asking for permission to call my lawyer, asking to see my supporting documents, and I was rudely denied everything. I was threatened, told that if I did not keep quiet, they would put a mask on my head. Then there was another vehicle, and I was taken to another part of the airport with American and Dutch representatives. One of the Dutch guards was drunk, and I asked him, "Are you drunk?" The guard told me that it was hand sanitizer, but it was not true. I periodically blacked out. At some point I realized that I was already on board an American plane, I asked again to call a doctor, and again no one responded to my request. There was no medical team on board, no one helped me, one soldier asked me if he could see my medical files, I said no, because I was not familiar with the contents of these files. Moreover, I do not know where these files are. I was roughly thrown into a chair, tied to the chair, I realized that I would sit without moving for the entire long flight, and I was already feeling very sick. I couldn't move or breathe, and I lost consciousness from severe pain, humiliation and torment.
Then I only remember waking up in the basement, all the wet clothes I was wearing were torn and cut. When I woke up, I could not feel my body or head. After a while, when I lifted my arm with difficulty, I saw severe bruises and bruises on my arm. There were also bruises and bruises all over my body. I touched my face and felt some bumps. When I touched my eye, I was very scared: it felt like my eye was pressed in (I felt this way when I had a complex maxillofacial surgery in Ukraine to restore a crushed eye socket). I was afraid that by using brute force against me, they had damaged the chains that supported the plates in my face and I might lose my eyesight. I realized that I was being beaten because my body was in great pain, my head was bursting with pain. No one provided me with medical care, I did not feel it. I continued to feel nauseous, my psychological attacks and fears increased.
Then they stripped me naked again, gave me a robe and took me to the basement, where there was only a table and a bed, with oilcloth instead of bedding. And the fears started again. I was deprived of a toilet and everything I needed, asking to go to the toilet and depending on the guards is a great torture. Sometimes, without waiting for them, I had to relieve myself in the corner of the room, and then clean it up with my hands. Without books, in solitary confinement, where the smell of gasoline is strong, this treatment of me is driving me to the brink of despair and killing me every day. The place where I am now in solitary confinement and experiencing the same torment is the Justitieel Complex Schiphol. For two years I have been writing complaints and asking for medical help. For two years, all my complaints were ignored, and this led to this result, my body was killed, and my chronic diseases were neglected. Now I am in great and urgent need of inpatient medical treatment, but this is being ignored again."
Mark Sokolovskyi's extradition took place on February 7, 2024. A lawyer in the Netherlands spoke with the prosecutor. Together, they contacted the Flight Center at Schiphol Airport and confirmed that the official transfer of Marko Sokolovskyi had taken place. The US authorities met Mark at the airport and a special air ambulance took off from Schiphol Airport around 10.00. On the way, there was a short stop in Maine (USA), after which the plane headed to Texas. The lawyer did not receive any information about Mark's well-being or health, but he requested a guarantee for this flight.
During Mark's preparation for extradition, he did not resist because he was in a depressed state. When they came to take him to the cell, he lost consciousness and does not remember anything. In this state, he was extradited.
Now Mark Sokolovskyi is in a prison in Texas, USA. The prison is not designed for sick prisoners. Mark is being held in a cell designed for eight people. Mark has not been provided with medical care.
At the moment, our editorial team is working on the real version of events, who benefited from accusing Ukrainian Mark Sokolovskyi of creating the most dangerous cyber virus that has harmed millions of victims around the world and why.
We would like to remind you that Mark Sokolovsky appealed to the President of Ukraine that he wants to serve his country. His appeal was published by Mark's representatives on his YouTube channel
Mark Sokolovskyi's biography
To be continued
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