The Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, a member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Eskender Bariiev, said that the latest searches and detentions in Crimea are a deliberate policy of the occupation authorities to convince the international community that there is allegedly some danger of religious extremism on the peninsula. In his opinion, in this way the invaders are trying to justify their illegal actions against Ukrainian citizens. He stated this in a commentary for the Crimea.Realities media agency.
“According to the results of our monitoring, the invaders mainly persecute Crimeans on religious grounds – for example, in the so-called Hizb ut-Tahrir and Jehovah's Witnesses cases, othe individuals are being accused of involvement in the Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion. In this case, we will most likely see the first. In my opinion, this is a deliberate policy of the occupation authorities to convince the international community that there is allegedly some danger of religious extremism in Crimea, and an attempt to justify their illegal actions against Ukrainian citizens”,- Bariiev said.
In his opinion, it is necessary to continue to inform the international community that such cases were fabricated by the Russian security forces.
“After all, Western politicians are thinking about whether it is worth participating in the support of those detained in Crimea on charges of Islamic extremism and terrorism. Russian representatives in international organizations place the main emphasis on this and try to create an extremely negative picture of Hizb ut-Tahrir. But these are ordinary people who are trying to observe Islam, and they did not pose any threat before the occupation of Crimea – and they do not threaten anyone today. Fortunately, we have so far managed to contain Russian propaganda and deliver objective information on international platforms. For Russia, this persecution is one of the ways to put pressure on Crimeans. I think such detentions and searches will continue”,- summed up the Head of the Board of the CTRC.
We remind that on August 31, Russian security forces conducted mass searches in the houses of the Crimean Tatars in the Nyzhniohirsk and Sovietskyi districts of Crimea, as well as in the city of Sudak. As a result, four people were detained. Subsequently, Enver Topchi, Ayder Ablyakimov, Ridvan Umerov and Ayder Kadyrov were released on recognizance not to leave. They are charged with Article 205.6 of the Criminal Code of Russia (failure to report a crime).