The persecution of Crimean Tatars will be the theme of Dzhemilev's speech at the UN
Mustafa Dzhemilev, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatars spoke about his upcoming speech at the UN Security Council during the “Your Freedom” program at Radio Freedom. He said that he would talk about the situation in Crimea, particularly the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars, whose activities the Russian-controlled authorities want to ban, as reported by Krym.Realii.
According to Dzhemilev, if the Mejlis is recognized as an 'extremist organization' by the de facto authorities of Crimea, more than two thousand members of this organization "will be under attack."
"We are going to pretend that we are dealing with a state ruled by the law, make statements, appeal, attract the attention of the international community and in turn, Russia will continue to demonstrate its true nature. On March 18 I will make a speech at the UN Security Council, and there we are going to talk what should be done about this situation," Dzhemilev said.
The Crimean Tatar leader said that there are about 230 local regional Mejlis offices in Crimea that represent 2,300 people. "If they don't say publicly that they renounce the Mejlis and consider it an extremist, terrorist organization, they will come under the attack," Dzhemilev said.
The Supreme Court of Crimea, controlled by Russia, began its hearings to possibly ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. At the first meeting on March 3rd, the prosecution filed documents that, according to Russian investigators, confirm that the actions of the representative body of the Crimean Tatars are "illegal and extremist." Leaders of the Mejlis predict that the court will satisfy the claim of the prosecutor's office.
The UN called on the Russian Federation to disallow the prohibition of Mejlis activities. The EU also expressed concern about the ban. A Crimean advocacy group has appealed to international organizations, with a statement about the unlawfulness of banning Mejlis in Crimea.
The internationally recognized Ukrainian territory of Crimea was annexed by the Russian Federation in March of 2014 in the wake of the Ukrainian revolution. The Kremlin has faced international condemnation for its annexation of the Peninsula, leading many western countries to impose economic sanctions against Russia. In the United Nations, only Afghanistan, North Korea, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Syria recognize Crimea as a legitimate federal subject of Russia.