Eskender Bariiev, the Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, member of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, told the Radio Liberty about the persecution and repression of minors in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
“There is an article about ‘sabotage’. But we know of a case when, on 9 November 2021, a district military court in Rostov-on-Don rendered a judgement against two teenagers suspected of preparing a ‘terrorist act’ in Crimea. They were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 7 years in a penal colony and up to 4 years in a general regime colony, respectively,” he informed.
Currently, there are 26 such cases. According to Bariiev, the teenagers are subjected to administrative punishment – their parents are fined or given several days of arrest. The human rights activist noted that the number of children detained by the occupiers may be higher. Likewise, the exact number of adults held in Russian captivity is still unknown.
“That is, where they are, the number of them, we are trying to collect this information. We know that there are basements, for example, in school No. 17 in Henichesk or school No. 14 in Nova Kakhovka. They create such basements and imprison people there. It is very difficult to count the number of such people, and how many of them are minors. They also began to hold such people in Crimea when they began to expand the pre-trial detention centers. Our lawyers go to those centers to get information. They cannot get this information, because, according to the official list of people, they do not exist there,” Bariiev added.