Crimean Tatar activists were transported long distances from their place of residence
Crimean Tatar political prisoner Rustem Gugurik was transported to IK-8 in Buryatia, which is 6,500 kilometers from his home. This was reported at an OSCE conference by his relative Tatyana Lukyanenko.
Earlier, Gugurik was convicted for participating in the Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan, which was recognized as “terrorist” in Russia. According to Lukyanenko, several weeks ago the colony administration unreasonably sent the prisoner to a punishment cell, writes “Tribunal. Crimean Episode”.
In addition, another Crimean Tatar activist and human rights defender Riza Izetov, sentenced to 19 years in prison, was transported to penal colony No. 1 in the Sakha Republic. It is located nine thousand kilometers from Crimea. The man was accused of being an activist of the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Since January 2015, criminal cases on Hizb ut-Tahrir have been opened en masse in Crimea, which came under the de facto control of Russia. The party's activities are not banned in Ukraine. Before the peninsula came under the control of the Russian Federation, the organization's activists were publishing a newspaper, could speak openly in the media, and hold mass public events.
According to human rights activists, the party members are being persecuted not for preparing a coup d'etat or terrorism, but for criticizing the Russian authorities and the repressions in Crimea. In most countries of the world, Hizb ut-Tahrir operates without restrictions.
