“Abuse of freedom of the media”: systemic pressure from the russian federation on the media in Crimea 

Article 13.15 of the code of administrative offenses of the russian federation, which provides for liability for abuse of freedom of mass media, is one of the legislative tools that the occupiers use to suppress independent journalists and even the slightest manifestations of freedom of speech in Crimea. This was stated by CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko.  

According to Yevhenii Yaroshenko, the occupiers most often use the article about the abuse of freedom of the media as a tool to persecute independent journalists and suppress freedom of speech. In particular, it was previously used against Crimean human rights defenders – Abdureshyt Dzhepparov, Lutfiie Zudiieva and Emil Kurbedinov.  

Last week, the occupation Zaliznychnyi district court of Simferopol fined Bekir Mamutov, the editor-in-chief of the independent Crimean Tatar newspaper “Qirim”, RUB 4,000 for allegedly “abusing freedom of mass information” (Article 13.15 of the code of administrative offenses of the russian federation). The occupiers held Bekir Mamutov liable for the fact that one of his publications mentioned the media outlets “Voice of America” and “Radio Svoboda” without the absurd, but mandatory for the occupiers, marking them as “foreign agents.”  

“In 2021, Bekir Mamutov was also fined RUB 4,000 for citing the UN Secretary-General’s report on the human rights situation in Crimea, which mentioned the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People without marking it as an organization banned in the russian federation. Thus, the occupation authorities do not tolerate even the slightest manifestation of freedom of speech, even when it comes to facts confirmed in the reports of the UN Secretary General”, – CrimeaSOS analyst noted. 

In the past six months, the occupiers have opened three administrative offense cases against the independent Crimean Tatar newspaper Qırım. The total amount of administrative fines imposed by the occupation courts on the Qirim newspaper as a legal entity and its editor-in-chief Bekir Mamutov is about RUB 800 thousand. In addition, in November this year, the newspaper’s editorial office was found guilty of abuse of freedom of the media, but the amount of the fine is still unknown.