Olena Berezhna, convicted of high treason and mother of former MP from the Party of Regions, released from pre-trial detention center
Olena Berezhna, the mother of former People’s Deputy Iryna Berezhna, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for treason in December 2023, left the detention center. The decision on her temporary release was made by the court within the scope of the review of the appeal, taking into account the stated medical condition of the suspect.
For information, distributed by the composer Volodymyr Bystryakov, Berezhna was released from custody on bail in the amount of 302 thousand hryvnias. The court agreed to such a decision due to the fact that during one of the court sessions the woman suffered a stroke, after which she was hospitalized.
Currently, the verdict in her case is not final: the appeals court is reviewing the previous decision. Meanwhile, Berezhna herself made an emotional statement after her release, in which she positioned herself as a victim of persecution, claiming that she spent “three and a half years of torture, humiliation and targeted destruction of dignity” in captivity. According to her, “the authorities have failed,” and she intends to continue her struggle.
“I fought for myself while in detention. But this struggle was not only for me.” she said in her address.
We will remind that Elena Berezhna was found guilty of high treason for publicly cooperating with Russian propaganda structures, spreading disinformation and calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order. Her case was considered under the conditions of martial law, in the context of increased attention to collaborationism and the information war waged by Russia against Ukraine.
Olena Berezhna’s daughter, Iryna Berezhna, was a member of the Verkhovna Rada of two convocations from the Party of Regions, known for her pro-Russian statements. She died in a car accident in 2017. After that, Olena Berezhna herself intensified her public activities and repeatedly appeared in the Russian media with anti-Ukrainian statements.
