Occupiers sentence Mejlis chairman Chubarov to six years in prison

“The ‘Supreme Court of Crimea’, controlled by the Russian occupying power, illegally sentenced Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Refat Chubarov to six years in a maximum security penal colony, 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay a fine of RUB 200,000 for alleged plotting mass riots near the Crimean Parliament building on February 26, 2014,” Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova posted on Facebook.

On that day, a rally of thousands of Crimean Tatars and pro-Ukrainian activists in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity took place, marking the start of resistance to the Russian occupation, and Chubarov was among those who came to the Crimean Parliament building.

“I do not recognize the ruling of the so-called Supreme Court of Crimea! I would like to emphasize that Refat Chubarov has been deprived of the right to a fair trial, access to justice, and effective legal protection since the beginning of this rigged trial, which is a direct violation of Articles 6 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights,” Denisova added.

She is convinced that today’s judgment yet again proves that the occupying power continues pursuing its policy of persecution and repression of Ukrainian citizens.

“I call on the international community to respond to these facts and increase pressure on the aggressor to make it comply with international law and immediately release all those illegally detained in Russia and the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights stressed.

As reported, Russia’s Federal Security Service in absentia accused Refat Chubarov of violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation (Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). After the article was decriminalized, the prosecution asked the court to find him guilty under Part 2 of Article 280.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Public appeals to violations of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation committed with the use of the media”).

According to FSB, “Ukrainian citizen Refat Chubarov called for the return of Crimea to Ukraine in an interview with a Ukrainian media outlet in April 2015.”

In November 2015, Interpol removed Chubarov from the Russian-initiated international wanted list.

In April 2016, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea recognized the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People as an extremist organization and banned its activities in Russia.

In March 2020, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case against Chubarov on charges of “plotting mass riots” in Simferopol on February 26, 2014 (Part 1 of Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

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