EU calls on Russia to immediately release Crimean Tatar detained in a mental hospital
The forced detention of Ilmi Umerov, the Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Tatar’s Mejlis, in a mental hospital in the annexed Crimea violates international human rights standards, according to Brussels representatives. The same applies to the psychiatric examination of Umerov as set out in the statement of the European External Action Service, published on the 27th of August, Deutsche Welle reported.
“Taking into consideration serious concerns about his health condition, emergency medical care should be provided to Umerov,” the statement said. Brussels demands Umerov’s immediate release and also re-emphasized the deterioration of human rights in the Crimea and Sevastopol since the annexation by the Russian Federation.
“A serious attack on the rights of Crimean Tatars was carried out as a result of the ban on activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the single highest executive-representative body of the Crimean Tatars, and by labeling it an extremist organization,” the statement noted.
In addition to Umerov, the European Union again urged the guarantee of safe return of all Ukrainian citizens who were illegally detained by Russia, particularly Oleg Sentsov and Olexandr Kolchenko.
The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko called the forced detention of Umerov in the Crimea a return to Stalin’s times. “One of the leaders of Crimean Tatar People, Ilmi Umerov was forcibly placed in a mental hospital. We see that Stalin’s Russia of the 1930s is completely back,” Poroshenko stated in an interview with CNN.
The criminal case against Umerov was initiated in May 2016. Russian authorities accuse him of separatism because of his speech on ATR Crimean Tatar TV Channel during his stay in mainland Ukraine.