Rally against ban on Mejlis held in Kyiv
The rally against the ban on activities of the Mejlis of Crimean Tatar people in Russian-annexed Crimea is being held in the Independence Square in Kyiv.
About 200 people have taken part in the rally. The protesters hold a poster reading “Ban on Mejlis = ban on people” in the Ukrainian language, Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper reports.
The rally is attended by just one lawmaker – MP from the BPP faction Refat Chubarov.
Gennady Afanasyev, recently released from Russian prison, daughter of persecuted in Crimea Ilmi Umerov, Aishe, and coordinator of the Public Blockade of Crimea Lenur Islyamov are also present.
Today, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation is expected to deliver a judgment on a final prohibition of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
The rallies in support of the Mejlis are scheduled to be held in Kyiv and a number of cities around the world.
Ilmi Umerov said earlier: “The decision of the Supreme Court does not apply to the territory of Crimea as Crimea is de jure territory of Ukraine… I do not recognize the judgment of the court of another state on the territory of my country.”
April 26, Russian-controlled Supreme Court of Crimea ruled to ban the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in the territory of the annexed peninsula.
The EU described the ban on Mejlis as a flagrant attack on the rights of the Crimean Tatars, while the Secretary General of the Council of Europe called for lifting the ban.
The prosecutor’s office of Crimea, which operates now in the territory of the mainland Ukraine, has begun the pre-trial investigation into the illegal ban on activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in Crimea.
