Crimean Tatars Face Increased Repression: 38 Detentions in Q1 2025

In the first three months of 2025, at least 13 searches were conducted in the occupied Crimea, including 7 searches of Crimean Tatars. Most often, Russians detain local residents, including Crimean Tatars, on charges of "discrediting the Russian army."

This was discussed during a press conference on human rights violations in the first quarter of 2025.

During this period, 38 detentions took place on the peninsula, including 12 against Crimean Tatars. Most of the detentions (14 cases) were for "discrediting the army", another 13 people were detained for "high treason", and 5 - in the case of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The occupiers also conducted 13 searches, including 7 in the homes of Crimean Tatars, made 36 arrests (21 of them of Tatars), and conducted 44 interrogations (16 of them of indigenous people).

Violations of the right to a fair trial were recorded in 70 cases, 39 of which were against Crimean Tatars. There were also 17 documented cases of violations of the right to health care, 12 of which were against representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.

According to Eskender Bariev, head of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, despite a slight decrease in searches, the practice of abductions is spreading in Crimea. People are taken away in the middle of the night, searched, and may be released if they promise to keep quiet.

In addition, Crimean Tatar prisoner Rustem Viratti, who was detained by the occupiers in the spring of 2023 after searches in his home in the Kherson region, died in a Russian colony. At the same time, three political prisoners from the case of the "first Bakhchisaray group" were released: Remzi Memetov, Zevri Abseitov and Rustem Abiltarov - they spent 9 years in a Russian colony.

Intent has already written how the occupation court in Crimea sentenced Crimean Tatar Khalil Ametov to 5 years in prison, accusing him of participating in the Noman Chelebidzhikhan battalion. He was detained in the Kherson region, transferred to Simferopol, and is currently being held in the Vladimir prison.

Another example of repression is that a Crimean artist was sentenced to 15 years in prison for an anti-war action: he poured blue and yellow paint on the facade of the occupation administration. Despite the pressure and ill-treatment, the man does not give up - he draws and writes letters from behind bars, supporting the spirit of resistance.

Meanwhile, on April 9, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted an important resolution that for the first time directly recognizes the need to compensate Ukraine for the damage caused by Russia since 2014, including the occupation of Crimea.

Ірина Глухова