According to the manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center Zarema Bariieva, 60 of the Crimean political prisoners currently being held in Russian detention centers and colonies are fathers of large families.
These people are allegedly accused of “terrorism” and are accused of participating in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization. However, how can parents with many children be terrorists if their main goal is to provide a future for their children? In fact, the Hizb ut-Tahrir case is just a tool for persecuting Crimean Tatars and pro-Ukrainian activists.
The occupation authorities use terrorism charges as a pretext for arrests without providing any evidence of participation in an organization with which the political prisoners have no connection. This is aimed at intimidating the population of Crimea and destroying the national identity of the Crimean Tatar people.
“After the arrests of fathers with many children, the burden fell entirely on the fragile shoulders of their wives. During all the years of occupation, not a single father of many children has been acquitted or released. Unfortunately, Russian legislation works only one way. International law does not work at all. Every year, children in such families fall asleep and wake up with photos of their parents. Instead of caring for and raising their children, parents with many children are serving time in Russian prisons for crimes they did not commit. In addition, many of them found themselves not hundreds but thousands of kilometers away from their homes!” – Zarema Bariieva said.
A serious problem is the inability of the families of political prisoners to see their loved ones. The occupiers not only deprive political prisoners of the right to see their relatives, but also transfer them to long distances – sometimes thousands of kilometers from Crimea. To visit a parent, families need to spend significant money on travel and overcome great difficulties. For children, this means years of waiting before they can see their father.
How long should it take for every child to be able to visit their father at least once a year? For example, political prisoner Server Zekiryayev has 12 children. The occupiers are depriving such families of basic human rights, such as the ability to keep in touch with their relatives.
“Children are simply deprived of the opportunity to meet with their father at least during the court hearing. The occupiers explain this by saying that the court is not a place for visits and the whole picture can traumatize the child’s psyche. But breaking in at dawn, breaking windows, breaking doors, putting a naked father on the floor, beating him with a rifle butt, etc., sending him to serve undeserved terms thousands of kilometers from his home, according to the occupiers’ logic, has a positive effect on the child’s psyche,” – adds the CTRC manager.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center will continue to tell the stories of political prisoners with many children in our future posts, so follow us to learn more about the fate of these families.