In the annexed Simferopol, Lutfiye Zudieva, a journalist of the Grati publication, was detained, the publication itself reported.
Zudiyeva was supposed to cover the trial in the case of Nariman Dzhelal, deputy chairman of the extremist organization Mejlis recognized in Russia, and the Crimean Tatar activists Aziz and Asan Akhtemov, who were detained in 2021 in a case of sabotage due to damage to a gas pipeline in the village of Perevalnoe.
According to Grati, Zudiev was not allowed to attend the trial in the Supreme Court of Crimea, after which she was detained. The journalist showed the police a press card and said that she was doing an editorial task, but they ignored her answer. Together with her, the security forces detained another 12 Crimean Tatars — relatives and friends of Dzhelal and Akhtemovs, who unsuccessfully tried to get to the court session.
The journalist was taken to the Zheleznodorozhny district police department of Simferopol, where, threatening, they tried to force her to give fingerprints and saliva samples, they write «Grati». Zudieva refused to do this, as a result, an administrative protocol was drawn up for her participation in the mass simultaneous stay of citizens in a public place “for the purpose of further media coverage” (Part 1 of Article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).
In September last year, the Supreme Court of Crimea sentenced Dzhelal to 17 years in a strict regime colony, and the brothers Asan and Aziz Akhtemov were sentenced to 15 and 13 years in a strict regime colony, respectively. Crimean Tatars were found guilty of sabotage committed by a group of persons (paragraphs «a» and «b» of part 2 of article 281 of the Criminal Code), illegal possession of explosives (part 4 of article 222.1 of the Criminal Code) and smuggling of explosive devices by an organized group (part 3 of article 226.1 of the Criminal Code) .
According to investigators, in August 2021, on the instructions of Ukrainian intelligence, men installed an explosive device on the Krymgazseti gas pipeline in the village of Perevalnoe and blew it up. Lawyer Emine Avamileva said that after Dzhelal was detained in early September 2021, he was kept in the basement with a bag over his head. Asan Akhtemov, who was later detained in this case, also reported electric shocks.