Human rights activists estimate how many Crimean people were put behind bars
As of the end of 2020, 109 people were imprisoned in occupied Crimea for political or religious reasons. According to human rights activists, there are currently 69 political prisoners in the Crimean Muslims case.
The Crimean human rights group reported this.
"We have recorded 15 sentences passed during 2020 related to imprisonment, 10 of them for terms of 12 to 19 years. These ten largest terms concerned the cases of Crimean Muslims. A total of 69 people were imprisoned in this case, 5 more are cases of so-called Hizb ut-Tahrir", - said Volodymyr Chekrygin, deputy chairperson of the Crimean human rights group.
The chairperson of the board of the Crimean human rights group Olga Skrypnyk added that the Russian Federation uses the so-called anti-terrorist legislation on those who are not satisfied with the Russian authorities.
"2020 has once again confirmed that Russia uses the so-called anti-terrorist legislation, primarily to persecute civil society, to suppress any mobilization of people, any associations that do not suit the Russian government. And this trend has continued. "These terrible verdicts show that the issue of releasing these people is critical", - she said.
What is known
- On December 16, the UN General Assembly adopted an updated resolution on human rights in occupied Crimea.
- The Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomy believes that illegal sentences against Crimean Tatars are further proof of religious persecution in occupied Crimea.
- First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar cited one of the examples of Russia's psychological projection on Ukrainian citizens - the fight against terrorism.
