Public religious rites are only allowed in 366 locations in Crimea
The public religious rites are allowed to be carried out only in 366 locations in the entire occupied Crimea.
Coordinator of the Crimean Human Rights Group Olha Skrypnyk said this at the international forum “Freedom of Religion and Belief amid Present-day Challenges.”
“Currently, Russian de facto authorities in Crimea treat a lot of religious rites as public events, so that they fell under the Russian law on the regulation of meetings and assemblies. Often, local authorities say that some religious forms of rites are subject to the law on public events, and, respectively, ban such activities. Then, the Russia’s Federal Security Service comes and also reminds about the ban,” the human rights activist explained.
She mentioned that decrees of local authorities also prevented from holding the public events.
“The thing is the local de facto authorities, using the Russian legislation, issue local acts, which further restrict human rights in Crimea. For example, in 2014 the decree was issued that peaceful assemblies might be held only in some 717 places in the entire Crimea. In 2016, this figure has been halved,” Skrypnyk said, adding that now the residents of Crimea can carry out peaceful assemblies, including, religious rites, only in 320 locations.
As reported, the Crimean imams were hinted that the traditional home ceremonies will be outlawed soon.
