DISINFO: Caliphate terrorists arrested in Crimea
SUMMARY
Russian security forces stopped the cell of the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami terrorist group in Crimea. The terrorists spread extremist ideology among the inhabitants of the peninsula and recruited Crimean muslims into their ranks.
RESPONSE
On the morning of July 7, in various regions of the temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian security forces raided the homes of Crimean Tatars. Six of the detained Crimean Tatars were arrested and will remain in the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre for two months. One Crimean was placed under house arrest due to visual impairment. Ukraine’s international partners reacted extremely negatively to the actions of the Russian security forces in Crimea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expressed strong opposition to Russia in connection with the mass searches and called on Russia to respect human rights. The Main Directorate of the National Police in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol (Ukraine) has opened criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Art. 162 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The US Embassy in Ukraine said that Russia has no right to prosecute and detain Ukrainians on Ukrainian territory. A similar statement was made at the US mission in the OSCE. The European Union called the searches politically motivated and violating international law, since the searches were carried out under Russian law in Ukraine. The EU emphasised that the international community expects Russia to stop putting pressure on the Crimean Tatar community. The Ukrainian human rights organisation Crimea SOS emphasises that in 2019 the largest number of criminal cases against the Crimean Tatars was recorded since the beginning of the occupation. The number of violations of the right to freedom of religion and the right to peaceful assembly is increasing. Russian security forces unreasonably detain activists and Russian authorities deprived Crimeans of the right to receive education in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages. According to human rights activists, in just one year, hundreds of illegal searches, detentions and arrests and dozens of cases for political reasons were recorded in Crimea. Every second Crimean detained for political reasons is a Crimean Tatar (p.30). Read similar cases claims that UN Security Council held honest dialogue with Russia about Crimea and that Crimean Tatars in Crimea receive great support from Russia.