THE CRIMEA WITHOUT THE MAJLIS

Abstract

(By Yelena Mukhametshina, Olga Churakova and Aleksei Nikolsky. Vedomosti, April 27, 2016, p. 2. Complete text:) The Crimea’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of motion filed by the republic’s prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya to ban [supreme representative body] of Crimean Tatars due to extremist activity. According to Kirill Koroteyev, lawyer with Memorial [human rights] center who represented Majlis, its activities as an international organization put it outside the Crimean Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. Moreover, functions in accordance with UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and Russia assumed obligation to protect [those rights]. ... prosecution insisted that concept encompasses all ethnic self-government agencies, which include over 2,000 people; [prosecutor’s] motion also referred to Majlis supporters, says deputy chairman [of Crimean Tatar Majlis] Nariman Dzhelyalov: The concept was made as broad as possible in order to be able to bring charges against anyone in future. Due to problems with its leadership, the [entire] governing body of Crimean Tatar people is being outlawed. Russia won’t be able to stop their activity, but it will get leverage over those who reside in Dzhelyalov stresses. After an energy blockade of which was organized with participation of leaders, as well as open declarations to create a unit for carrying out terrorist attacks in Crimea, any kind of dialogue with these people is out of question, Russian special services official explains. The Majlis was created in one country, and now it is practically defunct in Crimea, says Gadzhimet Safaraliyev, chairman of State Duma’s committee on ethnic affairs. Its activities do not help Crimean Tatars, so designating [the Majlis] as an extremist organization is proper thing to do, he believes. ... Designating Majlis as an extremist organization means its work will be shut down, and if its activities continue, participants and leaders risk being charged under Criminal Code Art. 282, Point 2, which has been used quite frequently in Russian judicial practice, and carries some very real prison sentences, recalls Pavel Chikov, head of AGORA international legal advocacy organization. [Chikov] cited as examples sentences handed down to members of such banned organizations as Tablighi Jamaat and National Bolshevik Party. This is first time that governing body of an entire people has been deemed an extremist organization, even though there have been earlier attempts to do this. In essence, this puts every Crimean Tatar at risk of prosecution, he believes.