Human Rights Court starts hearing cases on ban of Russian Mejlis

The European Court of Human Rights has begun considering cases filed in 2017 by the representative body of the Crimean Tatars, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, regional mejlises, and individual citizens. These are complaints against the actions of the Russian authorities, which, after the occupation of Crimea, banned the activities of the Mejlis, recognizing it as an "extremist organization".

This was reported by Krym.Realii.

According to the Chairman of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov, such a ban was a blow to the entire system of national self-government of the Crimean Tatars. "The illegal ban on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people has made its activities impossible. This has eliminated any possibility for its work in the occupied Crimea," he said.

The Mejlis was established in 1991 after the return of Crimean Tatars from places of deportation as the executive body of the Kurultai, the national congress of the Crimean Tatar people. In April 2016, the Russian-controlled Supreme Court of Crimea banned the activities of the Mejlis on the initiative of the then "prosecutor" of the peninsula , Natalia Poklonskaya. The formal pretext was an appeal by several pro-Russian civil society organizations that accused the Mejlis of "blockading Crimea."

In September of the same year, the Russian Supreme Court rejected the defense's appeal. Despite the fact that in 2017 the International Court of Justice ordered Russia to lift the ban, Moscow ignored this requirement. At that time, the spokesman for the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that this was an "internal affair of Russia" and the Kremlin did not intend to comply with international decisions.

The Mejlis filed a complaint with the ECHR, stating that the actions of the Russian authorities violate five articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular Article 11 on freedom of assembly and association. The complaint also refers to the political persecution of the Mejlis members.

"The recognition of the Mejlis as an extremist organization has made even belonging to it dangerous. The Crimean Tatars have found themselves in the position of a banned nation," Chubarov emphasized.

According to the Chairman of the Mejlis, such trials lay the foundation for future peace, which is impossible without punishing the aggressor. "These decisions are important for people in Crimea. They feel supported and see that the world has not forgotten about their struggle. And those who cooperate with the occupiers may think about what awaits them after the liberation of the peninsula,'' Refat Chubarov summarized.

Катерина Глушко