Mejlis: 248 Crimean Tatars were detained in the annexed Crimea over the past year
The Russian security services in the annexed Crimea detained 248 Crimean Tatars in the last year, 99 were fined, and another 42 were arrested, said Eskender Bariev, a member of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, at a press conference on January 31st, according to Ukrainian News.
Bariev noted that the representatives of the indigenous population of the Crimea are subjected to massive pressure from the law enforcement.
Bariev said, "For 2017, our compatriots were fined more than 5 million rubles ($90,000 USD). 104 people were fined, 99 of which were representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people."
In addition, 340 Ukrainian citizens were interrogated in the annexed Crimea last year (286 of them are Crimean Tatars), 286 (248 Crimean Tatars) were detained and 46 people (42 Crimean Tatars) were arrested. Searches and seizures were conducted in 61 Crimean Tatar houses on the peninsula.
Furthermore, the Mejlis stated that since the annexation of the peninsula, 16 people have disappeared (12 Crimean Tatars) and 13 representatives of the indigenous people of the Crimea have died.
Earlier it was reported that on January 18th in the annexed Crimea, Russian border guards detained a Ukrainian citizen who was allegedly wanted on charges of offending a state emblem and the Russian flag.
On January 25th, Enver Krosh, a detained activist in the Crimean city of Dzhankoy, was arrested and detained for ten days due to his publications in social networks. He is accused of an administrative offense under Part 1 of Art. 20.3 Russian Criminal Code (propaganda or public demonstration of the attributes or symbols of extremist organizations).
The annual report of the international human rights organization, Freedom House, notes the fact that the annexed Crimea is one of the least free territories in the world. On the 100-point system, the peninsula scored only 9 points, the rest of the territory of Ukraine scored 62 points. Furthermore, Crimea has very low rates of political rights (7 points out of 7) and civil freedom (6 out of 7).
On December 19th, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the violation of human rights in the annexed Crimea. The draft resolution, which was introduced at the initiative of the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, was supported by 70 countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called the resolution a logical and consistent confirmation of the decisive position of the international community in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, which was first recorded in resolution 68/262, adopted in 2014, and developed in the UN General Assembly resolution 71/205 in 2016.