#Ukraine: Escalating Pressure on Crimean Tatars
23 Activists Arrested on ‘Terrorism’ Charges
Russia’s arrest on March 27 and 28, 2019 of 23 Crimean Tatar activists was an unprecedented move to intensify pressure on a group largely critical of Russia’s occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, Human Rights Watch said today. Russian authorities should drop the charges, release the activists, and, until they are freed, immediately give them access to their lawyers.
The detainees, all men, are being held on suspicion of participating in a “terrorist organization,” several of their lawyers told Human Rights Watch.
“The sweeping arrests in Crimea aim to portray politically active Crimean Tatars as terrorists as a way to silence them,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This has been their approach for several years, and it should stop. These men should be released at once.”
▻https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/04/02/ukraine-escalating-pressure-crimean-tatars
#Crimée #anti-terrorisme (well...) #résistance #répression
ping @reka @simplicissimus
