The Kiev District Court of Simferopol sent three Crimean Tatars Ruslan Asanov, Ametkhan Umerov and Remzi Nimetulaev to a pre-trial detention center. This was reported by Crimean Solidarity with reference to lawyers Marlen Khalikov, Edem Semedlyaev and Refat Yunus.
As the lawyers specified, Nimetulaev and Asanov are accused of organizing the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). Umerov is involved in the case of participation in such an organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code).
“From the materials that the FSB officers submitted to the court, it is clear that for several years [the security forces] bugged the households of the Crimean Tatars, where they allegedly recorded some meetings. [To initiate the case, they used] testimonies of two hidden witnesses who say that they allegedly attended some secret meetings,” Semedlyaev said.
Early yesterday, the security forces searched six addresses of relatives of political prisoners and activists of the Crimean Solidarity. The next court also plans to choose a measure of restraint for the detainees Seydamet Mustafayev, Eldar Yakubov and Abdulmejit Seytumerov.
The Russian authorities associate the Crimean Tatars with the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which the Supreme Court in 2003 recognized as terrorist and banned. The organization legally operated on the territory of Ukraine, but after the annexation of Crimea, which was opposed by many Crimean Tatars, Russian security forces began to persecute alleged supporters of the party.