The political persecution in Crimea is increasing exponentially. In the occupied territory, soon everyone who somehow doesn't support self-proclaimed authorities and annexation of the peninsula by Russia would be labeled as "unreliable." This was maintained by the Center of Civil Liberties and Euromaidan SOS activists at the press conference presenting the second monthly report "Crimea: Chronicles of Occupation." The report discloses fabricated meetings, arrests, unwarranted interrogations, practice of denunciations in Crimea.

 

For example, last year, self-proclaimed Crimean authorities simply banned a peaceful gathering, devoted to the Remembrance Day of the Deportation of Crimean Tatars. However, this year, the situation has developed sadder, when FSB worked more perniciously.

 

"Obtaining permission to hold a peaceful assembly does not guarantee the security of organizers and participants. As cases against the organizers of the Remembrance Day of the Deportation of Crimean Tatars demonstrate, the human rights situation is deteriorating. This year, occupation authorities gave permission for the peaceful assembly on 18 May, but a few weeks later they held hearings and fined the organizers of the rally. Therefore, we can claim that even those limited legal mechanisms, used by people who defend their position to protect themselves, are not effective," said Maria Lysenko, the Center for Civil Liberties project coordinator and Euromaidan SOS volunteer.

 

Self-proclaimed authorities try all Crimean activists in court under the Russian Federation law, justifying this by their failure to give up Russian citizenship automatically granted to them. Also, it remains unclear how political prisoners get to Crimea and the Russian Federation without official border crossing.

 

"Repressions against and pressure on activists in Crimea also occurred during the early Maidan. The staff of the Security Service of Ukraine (now the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation) came to my parents and to the university, accusing me in killing Berkut soldiers on the Maidan. After that, my friend Oleksandr Kostenko (Ukrainian political prisoner in the Russian Federation) disappeared. There is a suspicion that he has been kidnapped and transported to Crimea, where he was tried in a court beginning of February. Then, the wave of political repressions against me resumed with a bang. My home was searched, sometimes 5 times during a day. As a result, they found the Soviet Army helmet. Then, mass media wrote that they declassified another structure of the Right Sector," told Stanislav Krasnov, a victim of political persecution in Crimea.

 

During the press conference, participants spoke of the CMU Resolution No. 367, which aims to regulate entry to the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. In fact, being of a very poor quality, it is a major threat.

 

"During the adoption of the Resolution No. 367, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has once again exceeded its authority and violated the freedom of movement of its citizens," emphasized Roman Martynovsky, the Regional Center of Human Rights expert.

 

For more information, please contact Maria Ivanyk: +38 (050) 705 86 72, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.