Worked under a pseudonym: former official from Kherson sentenced for collaboration with the occupiers
«The court did not establish any facts of coercion — neither physical nor psychological», the verdict states.
As reported by ThePublic.info, citing the decision of the Kherson City Court dated November 17, former head of the Kherson City Council's Health Department, Svitlana Mezeritska, was found guilty of collaborating with the occupation administration during the temporary occupation of the city.
Before Russia's full-scale invasion, Mezeritska headed the Kherson health department and was a deputy of the regional council from the party «Our Land». After the city was captured, no later than the second half of July 2022, according to the prosecution, she agreed to take a position in the so-called «Health Department of the Social Policy Department of the VCA of the Kherson City Community», acting under a pseudonym beginning with the letter «T». Documents with signatures were also issued under this surname.
After the de-occupation, lists of employees, work schedules, and other documentation with Mezeritska's signatures, confirming her activity in the occupation structure, were confiscated from the city council buildings and the perinatal center.
In court, she partially admitted guilt. She stated that she received offers to take the position several times — initially from the so-called “governor” of the occupied region, and later citing the Geneva Convention, which supposedly guarantees immunity from responsibility. Meanwhile, she acknowledged that during the occupation she attended meetings of the occupation administration three times and also brought a subordinate to the personnel department of the newly created department.
Witnesses in court confirmed that instructions from Mezeritska came specifically as from the “head of the department”, and she continued to sign documents herself, sometimes even blank sheets, which were then formalized by the occupation authorities.
The court found no evidence that the woman acted under duress and sentenced her to 7 years in prison with an additional 12-year ban on holding positions in government bodies, local self-government, and structures providing public services.
