‘Law enforcers tell my neighbors I’m a terrorist,’ Crimean activist says
The human rights activists of the Center for Civil Liberties tell about the pressure being exerted on relatives of the activists in Crimea, who are being persecuted by the occupation authorities.
“The strategy of intimidation of the activists and dissidents in Crimea is, unfortunately, massively used. I remind that the criminal proceedings were also initiated against brother of Oleksandr Kostenko, Yevhen. Unfortunately, we do not know where father of Oleksandr Kostenko, Fedir Kostenko, is. We suppose he was abducted,” Oleksandra Romantsova, project coordinator of the Center for Civil Liberties, says.
69-year-old Nadiya Krasnova from Simferopol is well aware of such persecutions. At 7:00, September 1, the Russia’s security service officers began to break open the door of her apartment. The Russian Investigative Committee accuses her son, the commander of the Crimea battalion, of violation of the Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code (incitement to hatred or hostility … using the media).
“The attesting witnesses are most likely to be their staff, violating the Russian Code of Criminal Procedure. There were about 12 people, the same number as during a search at the apartment of Oleksandr Kostenko’s wife, Olha Ukolova. It’s a usual practice now: to burst into the home of helpless people (women with children, elderly women) as to the public enemies! They usually come early in the morning, when a person is still sleeping and understands nothing. Let me remind you, mother of Stanislav Krasnov, 69-year-old Nadiya, has devoted 40 years of her life to the International Committee of the Red Cross department in Crimea, she is the nurse of the highest category, she has many medicine awards,” Oleksandr Kostenko’s lawyer, Dmytro Sotnikov notes.
Stanislav Krasnov says that a week ago, two unknown men seized his mother at the entrance to the apartment and took her to the Investigative Committee, where they exerted psychological pressure on her.
“They were asking her about me for three hours. They asked strange questions about my education, employment history, my habits, whether I keep weapons at home, and whether she knows I have become a fascist and now kill people in Donbas. It was more a psychological pressure,” the man says.
“At least once a week, the ‘law enforcers’ visit all the neighbors, asking them the same questions. They ask whether the neighbors have seen me, whether they know I am a terrorist and kill hundreds of thousands of people in Donbas,” Stanislav Krasnov says.
The serviceman adds that on September 1, the security service officers came with the search warrant for the first time, although the illegal searches had been conducted earlier as well.
The battalion commander appealed to the Crimean prosecutor’s office over the persecution of his family, but he does not believe in the effectiveness of the law enforcement agencies.
According to him, his mother does not have a lawyer, but his lawyer, Dmytro Sotnikov, confirmed that retention of the woman in Crimea, even in the status of a witness, is illegal.
“I want to take her to Kyiv region. I hope I will manage to do that, however the state doesn’t provide any support at all. Where can I take her now, to the barracks, to the office, or to the trench?” the battalion commander asks.
He says he plans to lodge a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the Russian Federation “for this terror”, as well as against Ukraine “for the complete inactivity.”
According to the third report “Crimea: Occupation Chronicles” prepared by the Center for Civil Liberties, July – August 2015, at least 17 interrogations and three searches were conducted, eight people were arrested for political reasons, 18 trials were held, three criminal cases were opened, and one refusal to hold peaceful assembly was issued in Crimea.
