In Transcarpathia, an anti-Semite evaded punishment for calling for the expulsion of Jews from Ukraine.

The Tiachiv District Court found local resident Serhiy Debych guilty of inciting national hostility and hatred. For his call on social media to expel Jews from Transcarpathia and Ukraine to Israel, he was sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment. The court replaced the actual prison term with one year of probation.

As stated in the court's verdict, issued on January 13, Serhiy Debych registered on Facebook in December 2021. On May 10, 2024, he shared a post on his account titled: “Well, good day, this is already Mukachevo, this is just p...83” accompanied by a video showing representatives of the Jewish religious community.

In a comment to the post, he referred to the Jewish national community of Ukraine as “bums”, “Jews”, and other derogatory terms, emphasizing his hatred towards them, and called for the expulsion of Jews from Ukraine and the Transcarpathian region to Israel.

During the court proceedings, Serhiy Debych admitted his guilt and requested not to be harshly punished. He explained that he shared and commented on the post with offensive and indecent words because the country is currently at war, during which many people have died, including his fellow villagers, friends, and acquaintances.

He interpreted the content of the post as suggesting that the representatives of the Jewish religious organization were mocking the ongoing war in Ukraine and the deaths of people, which led him to write offensive and indecent comments. However, later his relatives explained to him that the people depicted in the video were observing their traditions related to their religious beliefs.

Considering all the case materials, Judge Liliya Sas found Serhiy Debych guilty of inciting national hostility and hatred and sentenced him to 2 years of imprisonment. The court replaced the actual prison term with one year of probation.