HRW: Russia should release Crimean Tatars detained last week

“The sweeping arrests in Crimea [on March 27-28] aim to portray politically active Crimean Tatars as terrorists as a way to silence them. This has been their approach for several years, and it should stop. These men should be released at once,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The recent arrests are part of a larger wave of repression against the Crimean Tatars, many of whom have been critical of Russia’s occupation of Crimea, Human Rights Watch said.

As reported, Russian security officers conducted massive searches and detentions of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea on March 27-28. To date, 23 activists of the Crimean Solidarity have been arrested and illegally taken to Russian Rostov-on-Don. The whereabouts of one more activist is unknown. The court arrested the Crimean Tatars until May 15 on suspicion of alleged involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, which is banned on the territory of Russia and in the annexed Crimea.

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