The main problem that political prisoners face behind bars is that they are systematically denied medical care; in particular, prisoners with disabilities, the elderly, and those who have chronic diseases or have been tortured and have acquired serious illnesses as a result of inhuman conditions of detention, ZMINA human rights advocate Viktoria Nesterenko states
Refat Chubarov urged continued use of the Ukrainian Peace Formula to increase political and diplomatic pressure on dictator Putin and his supporters
Zelenskyy emphasised the need for pressure on Russia from all partners to establish a proper exchange system based on the principle of "everyone for everyone." Zelenskyy pointed out that, based on previous experience, releasing political prisoners has been extremely challenging
To advocate for personal sanctions, ZMINA is also gathering information about Russian officials involved in the illegal persecution of Crimean residents, including FSB officials and illegal 'judges' who have made unlawful decisions
The policy of destroying independent media deprives Crimean residents of access to information from independent journalists, creating a propaganda bubble
As for all kinds of natives of the Russian hinterland, the question of their prosecution by the Ukrainian authorities will depend on the degree of participation in war crimes against the civilian population
The event participants also watched the documentary by the reporter’s team of Crimea.Realities titled “The first pro-Ukrainian action in Simferopol after the Russian troops’ arrival: risk, “traitors of Crimea,” and abduction”
Amnesty International stated that with international crimes, Russia has attempted to change the ethnic makeup of Crimea while suppressing non-Russian identities on the peninsula, including through restricting education in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages, attacking religious minorities, stifling media and culture, as well as undermining representative institutions and abusing the criminal justice system
Since the outbreak of a full-scale war, Russia has ramped up its repression against Ukrainian citizens. Russian authorities are continuing to illegally detain Ukrainians and file politically motivated charges against them in order to get Ukraine to make concessions.
All foreigners or stateless persons who have settled in the occupied Crimea and other temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine have deliberately committed a crime and must immediately leave Crimea, Refat Chubarov says
Since the beginning of 2021, at least 10 mass detentions have occurred in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Most incidents occurred near the buildings of Russia’s government institutions
Tetyana Pechonchyk emphasized the importance of publicizing information about political prisoners. In her opinion, it is essential to tell the stories of illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens, spread them on social media and abroad, put pressure on Russia, initiate new resolutions of the European Parliament, and raise issues at the level of the OSCE and UN bodies so that Ukrainian citizens, political prisoners at risk with complex diseases, are released first and unconditionally
ZMINA discusses below one form of political persecution in the temporarily occupied territories, which includes cases related to the Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion
This article is about the charges brought against lawyers, the course of their trials, and the consequences these prosecutions will lead to
Kurkchi Memetov is held in the remand prison in the Sovietskyi settlement
“Fortress of the Muslim” was included to the “Federal list of extremist literature”
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