CrimeaSOS: about 30 members of the Mejlis were oppressed by russia during the years of occupation of Crimea

About 30 members of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people were oppressed by russia during the years of occupation of Crimea. CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko told us about it.

”During russia’s illegal ban on the Mejlis, approximately 30 members of the representative body of the Crimean Tatars were oppressed. Since the beginning of the occupation, representatives of the Mejlis were persecuted by the occupation authorities, became involved in politically motivated administrative and criminal cases, as well as victims of enforced disappearances. All of them are victims of politically motivated persecution”, — says Yevhenii Yaroshenko.

April 26 marks 7 years since the illegal ban by the russian occupation administration in Crimea of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and its recognition as an extremist organization.

Since the beginning of the occupation, the members of the Mejlis became a “target” for persecution by the russian occupiers. The following members of the Mejlis are among the most famous victims of politically motivated persecution in Crimea:

• Nariman Dzhelial – First Deputy Head of the Mejlis. On September 21, 2022, he was sentenced to 17 years of imprisonment with serving the term in a strict regime colony. He must also pay a fine of RUB 700,000.
• Akhtem Chyihoz — Head of the Bakhchysarai Regional Mejlis. One of persons involved in the “February 26 case”, he was sentenced to 8 years in a strict regime colony, but was later extradited to Turkey and released from serving his sentence. 
• Ilmi Umerov – former Deputy Head of the Mejlis. He was detained by the FSB of the russian federation in 2016, and later sent for a compulsory psychiatric examination. In September 2016, Umerov was sentenced to two years in a settlement colony, but was later extradited to Turkey and released from serving his sentence.
• Refat Chubarov – head of the Mejlis. On June 1, 2021, the russian-controlled Supreme Court of Crimea sentenced him in absentia to 6 years of imprisonment in a general regime colony. Chubarov was found guilty under part 1 of Art. 212 (organization of mass riots) and banned entry to Crimea.
• Mustafa Dzhemiliev — former Head of the Mejlis, leader of the Crimean Tatar people. On April 13, 2020, Mustafa Dzhemiliev was charged under three articles of the russian criminal code. Dzhemiliev was banned from entering Crimea until 2034.

The ban on the Mejlis is a manifestation of russia’s systematic violation of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people. The ban violates a number of provisions of international legislation, first of all, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of 1965. In 2017, the International Court of Justice of the United Nations passed an order on the application of temporary measures, in which, among other things, it obliged the russian federation to resume the activities of the Mejlis as the representative body of the Crimean Tatars.