A Coordination Meeting to Combat Islamophobia, organized by the Council of Europe and the European Commission, took place in Strasbourg on March 14-15.
This was reported by the website of the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience.
Chairman of DESS Viktor Yelensky, speaking at the meeting, emphasized that Islamophobia is the hallmark of Russian occupation policy. He reminded that the first victim of Russian occupation was a Muslim - Crimean Tatar Reshat Ametov, who was kidnapped and killed exactly ten years ago for a solitary picket in support of Ukraine. Muslims, who make up 13-15% of the population of Crimea, comprise two-thirds of the political prisoners on the peninsula. Currently, 117 members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, which operates freely in Ukraine but is banned in Russia, are imprisoned. The conditions of detention for Muslim prisoners are aimed at humiliating their religious feelings. They are forced to eat pork, their Qurans are confiscated, and they are thrown into solitary confinement for praying.
The Russian regime also seeks to turn Russian Muslims into cannon fodder - losses among the peoples of Russia who traditionally practice Islam are disproportionately high compared to Russians.
"Those who try to remain neutral in the Russian-Ukrainian war contribute to Islamophobia," emphasized Viktor Yelensky, addressing those present. "Those who support Ukraine fight against Islamophobia."