Eskender Bariiev, the Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Centre, the Head of the Department for Legal and Foreign Affairs of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, told ICTV’s Fakty Nedeli (eng. – Facts of the Week) how the Russian authorities began to persecute him after the occupation.
Since the first days of the occupation, Eskender Bariiev began to protest publicly against Russian aggression and advocate human rights. His home was raided one of the first in Crimea. At that time, he also began an active international activity.
Every time leaving Crimea, Russian border guards detained and questioned Eskender Bariiev, but they always released him later. On the night of January 22-23, 2015, he left Crimea for the last time. The way back meant detention and arrest.
“When I was crossing the border, my wife told me about a criminal case opened against me. She found this information on the website of the occupation prosecutor’s office. Collaborator Poklonskaia wrote it down as follows: open a criminal case against the coordinator of the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People under articles on extremism and encroachment on the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation,” Bariiev said.