CrimeaSOS: the occupiers suppress activism under the guise of “fighting terrorism”
30 / 06 / 2023
The arrests in Crimea have nothing to do with russia’s “fight against terrorism”. This is a form of persecution of Crimean Tatar activism. CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko said this during the lecture “Crimea: life under occupation” for Ukrainian students in Germany.
“Those who watch russian TV channels, read russian media resources, listen to russian officials, especially those who live in Crimea, may hear the opinion that russia is “fighting Islamic terrorism in Crimea”. Under this excuse, 101 citizens of Ukraine were arrested on charges of alleged involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir”, – said Yevhenii Yaroshenko.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a pan-Islamic political party that operates legally on the territory of Ukraine and most countries of the world, but it is banned and recognized as terrorist in the territory of the russian federation. Public activities of this organization are also prohibited in Germany.
“What is important to understand about these cases (in occupied Crimea – ed.)? These cases begin with a search at 4 o’clock in the morning, and during the search, (occupation force structures – ed.) they plant prohibited literature, which becomes one of the so-called pieces of evidence of the crime. Another piece of evidence is secret witnesses and linguistic examinations. Linguistic experts work closely with the FSB”, – Yevhenii Yaroshenko noted.
We shall remind you that the sentences for the victims of political persecution in the so-called “Hizb ut-Tahrir cases” range from 4 to 20 years of imprisonment. In particular, on June 16, 2023, the russian Southern District Military Court sentenced Crimean Tatar activist Ansar Osmanov to 20 years in prison.
CrimeaSOS online lecture “Crimea: life under occupation” took place on June 28. It was organized by CrimeaSOS together with student unions UnderstandUkraine (Uni Bielefeld), UniBonn.UA and the University in Frankfurt am Oder in Germany. Students from Ukraine who were studying in Germany participated in the event.
Photo: Crimean Solidarity. Ansar Osmanov with a poster near the courthouse in Rostov-on-Don before his arrest.