Religious Persecution in Crimea: A Tool for Occupation? Propaganda

The occupation authorities systematically use religious leaders from the temporarily occupied territories as a propaganda tool, creating the illusion that the situation has allegedly improved after the occupation.

This was discussed during the second Interreligious Dialogue "The Processes of De-occupation and Reintegration of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. Key challenges, risks and ways to overcome them".

According to Yevhen Bondarenko , Head of the Information Support Department of the Presidential Mission in the ARC, the aggressor country has been repressing religious communities in the TOT for years. According to the Representative Office, Russia will only increase its efforts in this direction. That is why it is important to actively cooperate with religious communities to show the real picture of the situation with freedom of conscience in the TOT.

Permanent Representative Olga Kuryshko emphasized that religious persecution in Crimea has become systematic, and last year's destruction of the last Ukrainian church in Yevpatoriya was another evidence of this policy. She emphasized that the Mission actively documents the facts of repression and engages the international community in responding to human rights violations on the occupied peninsula.

In August last year, the occupation "supreme court" of the annexed Crimea accepted for consideration a lawsuit filed by the regional office of the Russian Ministry of Justice demanding the liquidation of the Muslim community ofAlushta. The lawsuit of the Ministry of Justice states that the local religious organization "Alushta" "committed actions aimed at carrying out extremist activities", which is a "gross violation of the legislation regulating the activities of religious organizations".

"The rhetoric of the occupation authorities regarding such independent communities is as follows: they are legally allowed, but their number is minimal. Therefore, the Russians are trying to influence its processes in all possible ways, both legal and illegal," lawyer Rustem Kamilev said at the time .

Олеся Ланцман