The arrest of the lawyer: is the decision of the occupiers concerning Semedlyaev considered an increased pressure on
The occupying Central District Court of Simferopol arrested Edem Semedlyaev for 12 days and fined him 4,000 rubles (1,455 hryvnias) for allegedly “disobeying the lawful demands of the police". Occupying security forces demanded that Semedlyaev should not record how protocols were drawn up against detained Crimean Tatars. The decision of the Simferopol “court” was commented on by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova. She pointed to “unprecedented pressure and intimidation of lawyers” in occupied Crimea. The ombudsperson called on the world community to respond to another violation of rights and freedoms on the peninsula by the occupation authorities.
More about the illegal arrest and its reasons were discussed in the “Topic of the Day” with the guests of the studio: lawyer Lilya Gemedzhi, Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Tamila Tasheva, and chairperson of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis Refat Chubarov.
Lawyer Lilya Gemedzhi spoke about two offences in which the occupying security forces accused Edem Semedlyaev. She noted that in the case of a ban on audio recording, the occupation court referred to a violation of an internal document - an official instruction for “officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs”, which is not a normative act and is not freely available.
She explained the detention of the lawyer in a detention centre for those suspected of committing criminal offences as follows:
“A special detention centre for administrative detainees in Simferopol is being repaired, but this does not exclude another motive for placing it in this isolator. If we recall the arrest of Emil Kurbedinov, he was also held in this temporary detention centre. Therefore, other motives for placing our colleague in this isolator are not excluded".
She added that the arrest of Edem Semedlyaev is a challenge to the entire legal profession. As for the Crimeans, who were defended by the lawyer, Lilya Gemedzhi explained they were temporarily assigned to colleagues:
“Edem Semedlyaev's colleagues are doing everything possible so that his clients do not feel pressure, and do not feel his absence. After Edem returns to duty, he will continue all the necessary actions that he planned to do during this period. But it certainly has an impact. This pressure is not only on Edem Semedlyaev but also on all those who are under his protection".
Tamila Tasheva spoke about the reaction and the first steps after the lawyer's detention:
“We immediately appealed and also appealed to the diplomatic missions of the states accredited in Ukraine. Another tool is, of course, an appeal to the Russian Federation to release our citizens. Unfortunately, we are not sure that such calls and actions of our international partners will affect Russia, which controls this territory. But we must use all the tools to help our citizens”.
The Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea added that diplomatic tools are not always fast.
Refat Chubarov believes that the occupation authorities are trying to intimidate Crimean lawyers by starting to fabricate cases against the most prominent defenders:
"The Russian occupation authorities are always looking to expand or use new forms of pressure. Recently there were mass arrests, detention of over 140 people who went out to provide moral support to their compatriots.We already had a case when a lawyer, Emil Kurbedinov, was also detained some time ago - it was also all illegal. Now Edem Semedlyaev has been illegally convicted of exercising his legal powers".
According to the Speaker of the Mejlis, information support for illegally detained and convicted persons should be provided by Ukrainian TV channels and other mass media. And although effective mechanisms of pressure on the occupying power to force it to stop such arbitrariness are not used today, it does not mean that they do not exist at all, Chubarov added:
“In my opinion, it is necessary to continue processing documents against those who commit crimes in occupied Crimea, persecuting Ukrainian citizens.First of all, these are officers of the occupying Russian police. In the case of Edem, Ruslan Shambazov stood out. This is a former employee of the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Crimea. His brother Arthur Shambazov - was an employee of the main department of the SBU in Crimea. These two brothers are traitors- they immediately went to serve the occupiers, they hate the Crimean Tatars. Ruslan Shambazov provoked Edem Semedlyaev. He also wrote the reports. Moreover, he demanded that this so-called "trial" be held behind closed doors because, as he claims, he fears for his life".
