U.S. calls on Russia to release detained Crimean Tatars

The United States Embassy in Ukraine calls upon Russian authorities in the occupied Crimea to stop the detention of Crimean Tatars.

The embassy said this in a statement posted on Facebook on June 11.

“Eight more Crimean Tatars have been unlawfully detained this week. Russian authorities’ increasing persecution of Crimean Tatars is unacceptable and needs to stop,” the report says.

As Ukrinform reported, on June 10, Russian security officers detained eight people on terrorism charges after the searches in Alushta, Bilohirsk and Simferopol districts in Crimea. The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation stated that "investigative measures" were taken within the framework of a criminal case under Art. 205.5 (organization or participation in the activities of a terrorist organization) and concerned the religious organization Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine calls on the international community to increase pressure on the Russian Federation in connection with new massive illegal searches in houses and detentions of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea.

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