Ediya Muslimova Released After 36-Hour FSB Detention in Crimea

Ediya Muslimova, the editor-in-chief of the Crimean Tatar children's magazine Armanchyk detained by the FSB in annexed Crimea, has been released.

As she wrote on her Facebook page, she was detained for about 36 hours. FSB officers explained to Muslimova that she was detained because they had "received a signal". According to Muslimova, no force was used against her.

"The FSB officers were very correct. It took them a long time to figure out who wrote it, who did it. They asked a lot of questions about my work, about the magazine," the journalist said.

The editor-in-chief of Armanchyk admitted that it took her a long time to prove why, with 1,485 subscribers, the magazine is still "somehow holding on."

Ediya Muslimova stopped contacting us on November 21. The journalist's personal and work phones were disconnected. Ediye Muslimova's car remained near the house. Relatives filed a statement with the Russian police and began searching for her. Later, human rights activist Lutfiye Zudiyeva reported on her Facebook page that Ediye Muslimova was detained by three unidentified men in the evening of November 21. They put her in a white GAZelle and took her in an unknown direction.

Earlier, the occupation court fined the newspaper Qirim for publishing the report of the UN Secretary General. An excerpt of his report concerned the humanitarian situation in Crimea. It referred to unjustified detentions and beatings of people. The Qirim article also provided information about the torture of a Crimean Tatar in Kherson and the harsh conditions of the pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Simferopol. In this article, the operative saw"the dissemination of false information under the guise of reliable information, which created a threat of harm to the life and health of citizens, property, the threat of massive violation of public order and public safety."

Before that, the 68-year-old editor-in-chief of the Qirim newspaper Bekir Mamutov was charged with discrediting the Russian Federation and spreading false information under the guise of reliable information. Center "E" investigator V. Korenivskyi noted that Mamutov published two articles on the newspaper's website. One of them was about why Crimeans should not participate in the Russian special operation on the territory of Ukraine. According to the operative, with this article, Bekir Mamutov "disseminated information aimed at discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces to protect the interests of the Russian Federation and its citizens, to maintain international peace and security within the framework of demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine." Center "E" accused Mamutov of expressing disagreement with the "SVO".

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