Statement of the Youth Democratic Movement Vesna on Kremlin persecution of Crimean Tatars
Every single branch of the Youth Democratic Movement Vesna has been keeping an eye on the recent wave of Kremlin persecution of Crimean Tatars.
Nariman Dzhelyal, the Deputy Head of Crimean Tatars’ Mejlis*, and several other people were blamed for blowing up a gas pipeline in Simferopol in September. Dzhelyal has been kept under detention for months. Early on, he had been put to the rack. He is going to stay in a detention centre at least until January 23, 2022, as on December 3, the Crimean Supreme Court rejected the appeal against arrest extension.
A Crimean Tatar activist and politician might face up to 15 years of sentence.
As Nariman Dzhelyal and some other Crimean Tatars, Edem Semedlyaev, an attorney of the accused in the case of Hizb ut Tahrir*, has been persecuted as well.
Journalists that cover the issue have faced some pressure too. For instance, journalist Dlyaver Ibragimov and the reporters of Grani.ru, Enver Alimov and Alim Suleimanov, were subjected to administrative arrests for their publications about Crimean Tatars activists’ detention on November 23.
Reprisals took place when police tried to prevent Crimean Tatars from meeting up altogether on important days, for example, on the Remembrance Day for the Victims of the Deportation of Crimean Tatars on May 18. This is a violation of a secured right to a peaceful assembly that functions in Ukraine.
The declaration of Mejils*, the representative authority, as an extremist organisation in Russia, as well as the ongoing persecutions in the case of Hizb ut Tahrir**, have become a major blow to Crimean Tatars.
The case of Hizb ut Tahrir** started in 2016 when searches in several homes of Crimeans were conducted. After a while, Hizb ut Tahrir* was declared as a terrorist organisation in Russia and it was banned in some other countries for their non-recognition of the State of Israel. The organisation legally functions in Ukraine and they were not banned in the EU as well. The accused to the case of Hizb ut Tahrir** faced up to 19 years of a prison sentence and more than 10 of the accused are held in detention while waiting for the court decision.
Thus, 121 people are held in Russian and Crimean prisons, 86 of them are Crimean Tatars. All of them are recognized as political prisoners. It is absolutely clear that the number of those who will be politically persecuted is going to rise in the future.
That is the reason why we, members of the Youth Democratic Movement Vesna, condemn the acts of repression performed by the authorities of the annexed region against Crimean Tatars, indigenous people of the peninsula.
We demand the freedom of Nariman Dzhelyal and we call for the elimination of the criminal investigations against him.
Other actions that might improve the situation of Crimean Tatars can be the lifting of recognition of the Mejlis* as an extremist organisation and the ensuring Crimean Tatars’ rights to freedom of conscience and assembly which are guaranteed by international laws.
Moreover, we urge the authorities to allow representatives of international human rights organisations to visit Crimea.
Not a single Crimean Tatar deserves such a terrible violation of their rights which has happened in Crimea since 2014. Not a single Crimean Tatar deserves to be discriminated against because of either their nationality or their religion. Not a single Crimean Tatar can be treated as a vulnerable person because they are indigenous people.
Stop bothering Crimean Tatars!
*Recognized as an extremist organisation. We have to mention that according to the local laws.
**Recognized as a terrorist organisation. We have to mention that according to the local laws.