At first, professional journalists continued to work in Crimea, but with the growing pressure, most of them were forced to leave for mainland Ukraine, while some stayed and clandestinely prepared materials for the Ukrainian media. As a consequence, civic journalism began to develop on the territory of Crimea. Ordinary people, forced to live under temporary occupation, took mobile phones in their hands and switched on the camera to record numerous offences against representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people.
Russian security forces during searches of activists’ homes or during “court hearings” in Crimea could simply smash the phones and cameras of journalists who were recording everything on video. Sometimes the occupants also used physical force against them. Russian legislation was used as an instrument of pressure and reprisals against activists. Journalists were brought to administrative responsibility for allegedly organising or participating in an unsanctioned rally.
Already now among the numerous political prisoners of the Kremlin there are a number of activists, civic journalists, bloggers from Crimean Solidarity.
The peninsula has been turned into a territory of lawlessness with the lowest level of freedom of speech.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Centre calls on the international community to continue to increase pressure on the occupying state so that our compatriots can continue their professional activities.