Suspilne Crimea learned what illegal arrests took place in occupied Crimea and what new forms of detention the occupiers resorted to in 2021.

According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center for 9 months of 2021:

• occupying security forces conducted 46 illegal searches;
• 238 Crimean citizens were illegally detained this year;
• the occupiers arrested 147 people, 18 administrative arrests;
• the term of detention was unlawfully extended for 83 Crimeans;
• the occupation court announced 22 illegal verdicts this year.

“It is best to keep humility through fear. The fact that people have been tortured more often, women have been detained - it all seems to me to be evidence that this machine is speeding up and needs more fear, that people are afraid that if they are detained, they will be tortured, that if you come out - no one will consider your age and your gender”, - Oleksandra Matviychuk, head of the Center for Civil Liberties, told Suspilne Crimea.

In 2021, on March 16, occupying security forces illegally detained Radio Liberty freelance journalist Vladislav Yesipenko. He worked in occupied Crimea, shooting materials for “Crimea Realities'' on social topics. The occupiers accused Yesipenko of making explosives.

The occupying FSB claims Vladyslav was preparing an explosion in the interests of Ukrainian special services. The sanction of the article envisages from 5 to 12 years of imprisonment.

On September 3-4, occupying security forces conducted an illegal search of the house of Nariman Dzhelyal, deputy head of the Crimean Tatar People’s Mejlis.

He and two cousins, Aziz and Asan Akhtemov, were detained on charges of plotting a terrorist attack to blow up a gas pipeline. Dzhelyal faces up to 20 years in prison.

Oleksandra Matviychuk believes that he was detained in response to the Crimean Platform because Dzhelyal attended the inaugural summit on August 23, speaking about human rights violations in Crimea.

On October 25, the occupation police illegally arrested lawyer Edem Semedlyaev in the department. He came there to defend the interests of other Crimean Tatars detained that day near the "court" building. The lawyer refused to undress at the request of an employee of the occupation center for countering extremism.

He was accused of disobeying the demands of the occupying police. Semedlyaev was detained in a pre-trial detention center for 12 days.

“When those who defend the persecuted are being persecuted, it means that this barometer of unfreedom is at a critical level, there is little oxygen, people suffocate. We turned to several international organizations that are internationally known for protecting the rights of lawyers. We made a joint statement, which was joined by Lawyers for Lawyers and European lawyers”, - Matviychuk said.

On October 11, the occupation police illegally detained 15 Crimean Tatars near the building of the occupation court in Simferopol. They came as listeners to the meeting on the case of the Krasnogvardeisky Hizb-ut-Tahrir group. Among others, there were two sons of the illegally imprisoned Ramzi Memetov - Eskender and Dilyaver and the father of the illegally imprisoned Rustem Emiruseinov - Reshat. 

On October 25, occupiers detained 21 people near a courthouse in Simferopol. Among others, there were three citizen journalists - Zidane Adzhikelyamov, Ruslan Paralamov, and Dilyaver Ibragimov. Then, for the second time in a month, the occupiers detained Dilaver Memetov.

On November 1, the occupiers detained 19 Crimean Tatars near the Simferopol "court" building. Among the detained - were public defenders Seit-Osman Karaliev, Mustafa Seydaliyev, Dilyaver Memetov, and journalist Kulamet Ibraimov.

The same day, seven women were illegally detained. Among those detained, there were older persons and a minor girl. Illegal detentions in court have escaped the attention of the international community, but they indicate new dangerous trends.

“From a legal point of view, this is absurd. People came to a court hearing, which even under repressive Russian law should be open. It is closed only at the request of some people. Over ten women, including a minor and the elderly, were not allowed to attend the trial. They spent a day in the regional department, and this is a new level because the occupiers never detained women before”, - Matviychuk said.