March 15, 2025, 10:28 a.m.
In September 2024, Russian security forces detained Asan Bay , a resident of the village of Novodmitrivka, Henichesk district, Kherson region. For seven months, the man has been in a pre-trial detention center, and his relatives are prohibited by the Russian authorities from disclosing information about his detention.
According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Asan Bay was detained at the Chongar checkpoint in September, accusing him of participating in the Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan.
"The detainee's acquaintances say that Asan Bai is a calm and apolitical person, he has never been involved in protests or paramilitary groups. Despite this, Russia has accused him and imprisoned him ," the statement said.
The Noman Chelebidzhikhan Battalion is a volunteer armed formation that was created in early 2016 during the blockade on the administrative border with occupied Crimea. At least 18 people were convicted in the "battalion case" in Crimea.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center condemns the unjustified repressions against civilians and demands the immediate release of Asan Bay.
"We call on the international community to pay attention to the systemic human rights violations by the occupation authorities and to increase pressure on the Russian Federation to stop illegal detentions," the CTRC added.
Earlier, the occupation court illegally sentenced a member of the Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan to 3.5 years in a strict regime colony. The man was allegedly "provided with firearms and carried out checks of persons and vehicles at checkpoints on the border with Crimea, guarded the facilities of the illegal military formation".
The southern district military court, controlled by Russia, also extended the term of detention for activists from the "fifth Bakhchisaray" group of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia.
According to the Presidential Mission in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as of November 4, the occupiers have illegally imprisoned 218 people on the peninsula, including 132 Crimean Tatars. Of the total number, 43 are arrested (28 of them are Crimean Tatars), 151 are imprisoned (97 of them are Crimean Tatars), and 26 are without status (6 of them are Crimean Tatars).
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