US State Department calls on Russia to stop campaign against Crimean Tatars
The US State Department has called on Russia to "stop the campaign against Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea", wrote US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert on her Twitter account.
"Russia should end its campaign against the Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea and release all those imprisoned for opposing the occupation," the message stated.
She also called for the release of Crimeans Rustem Vaytov, Yuri (Nuri) Primov, Ruslan Zeytullayev and Ferat Sayfullaev, who have been convicted by Russia in the "Hizb ut-Tahrir case".
Defenders of those arrested and convicted in the Crimean "Hizb ut-Tahrir case" consider their persecution to be motivated on religious grounds. Attorney Emil Kurbadinov notes that those whom the Russian law enforcement agencies are pursuing in this case are mostly Crimean Tatars, as well as Ukrainians, Russians, Tajiks, Azerbaijanis and Crimeans of other ethnic origin who profess Islam.
Representatives of the international Islamic political organization Hizb ut-Tahrir consider their mission to be the unification of all Muslim countries in the Islamic caliphate; however, they reject using terrorist methods to achieve this, and say they are being subjected to unfair prosecution in Russia. The Supreme Court of Russia banned "Hizb ut-Tahrir" in 2003 as one of 15 associations declared to be "terrorist" organizations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the US State Department, and the European Parliament have also appealed to Russia demanding the release the Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov and other political prisoners.