On Thursday, November 12, US Ambassador to the OSCE James Gilmore said that Russia is persecuting almost all religious organizations except the Russian Orthodox Church in the occupied Crimea. He called on the Russian Federation to end the campaign of oppression on the peninsula.
“According to the Crimean Human Rights Group, since the beginning of the occupation, 101 administrative cases have been initiated against religious organizations and their members for illegal missionary activity. The case of the Crimean Muslim Imam Ablyakim Haliiev, who was charged with such activities for conducting Friday prayers on October 27, is only the latest example of the persecution of Muslim leaders who refuse to obey the religious leadership imposed by the occupation authorities. On October 14, the court also fined the Yalta branch of the Russian Greek Catholic Church for illegal missionary activity because it refused to obey the will of the occupation authorities”,- he said.
US Ambassador James Gilmore called on Russia to end its campaign of oppression in the occupied peninsula, and to end intimidation and persecution of ethnic and religious minorities.