Dutch court releases two Ukrainians accused of human smuggling to fight Russian invasion

Two Ukrainian prisoners accused of human smuggling in the Netherlands were granted conditional release from pretrial detention so they could fight Russia in their home country, according to a court filing.

The Zeeland-West Brabant Court last week approved the conditional release of one foreign national who was born in 1992 from pretrial detention in Ter Apel prison. The decision came after the court determined that the foreign national demonstrated a desire to defend Ukraine against Russian attacks and to reunite with his family in the country, according to the filing.

The man and his associate, 27, were suspected of human smuggling, according to Dutch news outlet NOS. His associate was also released to return to Ukraine.

The men were released under the condition that they must not evade serving their sentence if they are convicted and must not re-offend during their release, NOS reported.

The suspects, who come from Lutsk, in northwestern Ukraine, were arrested in September when they were allegedly caught on a boat attempting to bring a group of Albanians into the United Kingdom, according to the outlet. They face up to 18 years in prison if convicted. 

The defense filed for the 29-year-old’s release on March 17, according to the filing, and the court ordered he be released the next day, citing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plea for Ukrainians to join the fight against Russia. 

The court said “that the interest that the suspect has in his release outweighs the public interest served by continuing the suspect’s pretrial detention,” the filing read.

–Updated at 11:37 a.m.