The Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories regards the searches and detentions of Crimean Tatars on the Peninsula as another act of pressure exerted by the Russian occupation administration on Crimeans on ethnic and religious grounds.
This is reported by Interfax-Ukraine.
“Today, representatives of the Russian occupier ‘authorities’ on the Peninsula conducted a series of searches in the Bakhchisaray, Kurman (former Krasnogvardiysk), Simferopol districts and the city of Alushta, during which six people were detained. The Ministry considers such actions as another act of pressure on the part of the Russian occupation administration on Crimeans exerted on ethnic and religious grounds,” the Ministry said in a statement.
It is noted that among the detainees are five Crimean Tatars (Emil Ziyadinov, Ismet Ibragimov, Alim Sufyanov, Vadym Bektemirov, Seyran Khayretdynov) and a Russian native Oleksandr Sizikov, who professes Islam.
According to the report, Sizikov, who is a disabled person of the first group, is being persecuted for his civil position. He twice held individual pickets in support of public activist Edem Smailov, who was detained in 2018.
“The Russian Federation systematically violates the rights of citizens in the temporarily occupied Crimea. Dozens of people are thrown behind bars, lawyers and social activists constantly receive "warnings" and threats. Ukraine collects information about all those involved by the occupier state in the illegal searches and arrests, violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against people in the temporarily occupied territories,” the Ministry states.