Invaders call Crimean Tatars terrorists without trial: relatives demand justice

In the annexed Crimea, the FSB detained four Crimean Tatars - Esma Nimetulayeva, Nasiba Saidova, Elviza Aliyeva and Fevziya Osmanova. All of them are charged with "participation in the activities of the terrorist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir" (part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), which provides for up to 20 years in prison.

This was reported by 'Krym.Realii'.

According to relatives and lawyers, the searches and detentions took place in October. The women were arrested by a closed-door decision of a Russian-controlled court and sent to the Simferopol pre-trial detention center until mid-December. Even their relatives were not allowed to attend the hearings. According to Crimean Solidarity, the detainees are held in cold, damp cells, and are forced to remove their hijabs during inspections.

Relatives and human rights activists call the accusations unfounded and claim that evidence has been fabricated: during searches, security forces allegedly planted 'banned books', and the investigation considers only recorded conversations as evidence. Human rights activists emphasize that the girls did not have weapons, did not plan any violent actions and were engaged in normal work and study.

The coalition of Ukrainian human rights organizations called the case politically motivated and demanded the immediate release of the Crimean women. Eskender Bariev, head of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, believes that the FSB uses such cases to intimidate Crimean Tatars and discredit the community.

After the arrest, the relatives of the detainees collected 6,500 signatures in support of them and went to Moscow to deliver an appeal to the Russian Presidential Administration, the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ombudsman. On the way, their vehicles were stopped five times by Russian security forces for inspections.

''We will not stop. These are our daughters, we want justice,'' said the mother of one of the arrested, Fevziye Osmanova.

Катерина Глушко