On June 1, 2021, the so-called Supreme Court of Crimea sentenced in absentia to the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, having found him guilty of crimes under Article 212, Part 1.2 of Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced to 6 years in a general regime colony, a fine of 200,000 Russian rubles and 200 hours of correctional labor. The so-called verdict was passed for allegedly organizing mass riots during the events of the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on February 26, 2014.
The so-called case against Chubarov was opened in 2015, in 2016 the Chairman of the Mejlis was put on the international wanted list, during the proceedings and consideration of the case the right to punishment was violated solely on the basis of the law, since the Russian Federation, as an occupying state in accordance with IV of the Geneva Convention, does not have the right to extend its criminal legislation to the occupied territory of Crimea.
Since Chubarov is located on the territory unoccupied by Russia, the punitive authorities of the aggressor state hope to achieve extradition, they expect that the Chairman of the Mejlis will be extradited by one of the states which Chubarov will visit.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center states that this decision of the so-called court is illegal, politically motivated, criminal and a continuation of the practice of violation of international law by the Russian Federation, as well as a continuation of the policy of targeted persecution of the indigenous people of Crimea – the Crimean Tatars – on a national basis. The ban of the Mejlis – the representative institution of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people – and the so-called sentence of its Chairman mean that Russia will continue to continue to oust the Crimean Tatar people from their homeland.
In this regard, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center addresses:
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the Office of the President of Ukraine with a demand to impose personal sanctions against persons who carried out investigative actions, supported public accusations and passed a verdict in the case of Refat Chubarov.
International organizations – the NATO General Assembly, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the UN, demanding a public assessment of the next act of violations of international law by the Russian Federation and considering the introduction of additional sanctions against the aggressor state.
The international community should consider the issue of imposing sanctions against those responsible for human rights violations in the occupied Crimea.