Yesterday at 17:17
In Russian-occupied Crimea, people are fined and forced to publicly apologize for singing Ukrainian songs. Democracy on the peninsula is just a sign. Since 2015, the Russian invaders have been trying to ban the symbols of the Crimean Tatar people. And the vast majority of arrests and detentions in Crimea are carried out against the indigenous people. For 6 months of 2023, human rights activists recorded 101 detentions, of which 66 were against Crimean Tatars. This was stated by the head of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center Eskender Bariev on the air of the FREEDOM TV channel.
Bariev emphasized that in a democratic society representatives of the indigenous people cannot be persecuted. And even more so when it comes to a representative body, such as the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, which Russia has declared an “extremist” organization.
“Due to the position of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in 2014, persecution began from the “democratic” state, the aggressor country. In 2016, Russian “democratic” courts decided to ban the Mejlis and declared it an “extremist” organization. And this is the organization in which representatives were elected just the same in a democratic way, in direct elections, ”said the guest on the air.
At the same time, Bariev stressed that the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people continues to work today, both at the international level and on the territory of mainland Ukraine.
He also commented on the decision of the so-called “administration” of the temporarily occupied Crimea to ban the hoisting of the Crimean Tatar flag along with the flags of Russia and the “Republic of Crimea” on rulers in schools on the peninsula.
“They will not be able to ban the flag, although they have tried more than once. For example, they tried to ban the use of symbols of the Crimean Tatar people in 2016-2017. Then there were cases when children were forced to change their T-shirts because they had the coat of arms – Tamga. But with all this, they will not be able to ban the flag, because it is in the heart of every Crimean Tatar. And it is clear that these are symbols of identity,” Bariev stressed.
In a democratic society, he says, there must be freedom of thought, freedom of speech, freedom of action. And in the Crimea today you can observe a completely opposite situation.
“In just 6 months of 2023, 101 detentions were recorded, of which 66 were against indigenous people. There were 37 searches, of which 29 were in the homes of Crimean Tatars. We recorded 140 cases of arrests. Of these, 93 are in relation to the Crimean Tatar people. The invaders conducted 106 interrogations, 73 – in relation to the Crimean Tatars, ”said a member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
Also, according to him, human rights activists recorded 156 cases of violation of the human right to a fair trial in six months, of which 103 were against Crimean Tatars.
“When we talk about the violation of the human right to health, 29 cases were recorded, 21 – in relation to the Crimean Tatars. In addition, two deaths were recorded in places of detention in six months: Konstantin Shiring and Dzhemil Gafarov. Although we have repeatedly addressed and said that their state of health wants to be better and it is necessary to carry out treatment, ”added the guest of the broadcast.
According to Bariev, 294 cases of criminal prosecution of Ukrainian citizens were recorded on the peninsula, 196 against representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.
“There are now 175 people, political prisoners, in places of non-freedom. Of these, 117 are representatives of the Crimean Tatar people. This is the kind of “democracy” that the occupiers have,” Bariev summed up.
He also stressed that every year the Russian Federation comes up with more and more new tools to persecute people.
“Until 2022, they unlawfully applied their legislation to ban the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir or Jehovah’s Witnesses, and already in 2022, a new tool appeared: the court of the Russian Federation ruled that the battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan was recognized as a terrorist organization. In addition, new articles appeared – for discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation, both in the Administrative Code and in the Criminal Code. And there are already cases when people are prosecuted precisely in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation under this article. Hundreds of people are prosecuted under the Administrative Code, fined, arrested for several days, forced to apologize publicly. There are lists of forbidden topics, forbidden literature, forbidden songs. This is the kind of “democracy” the Russian occupiers brought to Crimea,” Bariyev emphasized.
