Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry demands release of detainees in ‘case of February 26’

The Ministry reminds about harassment of the Crimean Tatars by the occupying power and the facts of forced deportation.

As noted in the statement, the Ministry “makes the resolute protest in connection with the start of the trial of the participants of the peaceful demonstration in Simferopol on February 26, 2014 by the Russian-occupation authorities.“

“The reprisals of the occupying power against the defenders of the native land from the Russian aggressor are a cynical challenge for the international law and the international community. The policy of persecution of the Crimean Tatars by the Russian occupying power, the cases of violence and ill-treatment, the facts of forced deportation, restrictions on the right to worship, destruction of public organizations and harassment of the media and journalists have turned Crimea into the island of fear and suffering of its indigenous people,” reads the statement.

The Ministry urges to stop harassment of the Crimean Tatars on the peninsula and release Akhtem Chiygoz, Ali Asanov, Mustafa Degermendzhy, Arsen Yunusov, Eskender Emirvaliev, and Taliat Yunusov – “the hostages of the occupational policy of the Russian Federation towards Ukraine.”

As a reminder, today, the Supreme Court of Crimea has considered the merits of the case on “mass riots” of February 26, 2014, which occurred during the rally of thousands near the Crimean Parliament with the participation of supporters of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and activists of the Russian Unity Party. The relatives of the defendants were not allowed into the courtroom.

Today, the Central District Court of Simferopol sentenced Taliat Yunusov to 3.5 years of probation in this case.