Bakhchysarai Mejlis faces eviction after mysterious court hearing

The Mejlis building with Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian flags waving.  

A week after the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People was first subjected to an 11-hour search and then evicted, the Mejlis in Bakhchysarai are also facing eviction.  Neither the Mejlis nor the NGO which leases them the building were informed of the supposed court hearing.

The Bakhchysarai Mayor’s office claims that a suit was lodged by a municipal housing enterprise against the Council of Teachers which leases out the building on Pushkin St.   The mayor’s office asserts that the suit was because the Council of Teachers ignored its contractual obligations, infringed important conditions for the lease agreement, insurance as well as the use of the building for the purpose intended.  It says that the first instance court fully allowed the demands made by the claimant, and warns that after the court order comes into force, the Mejlis will be forcibly evicted.

Akhtem Chiyhos, head of the Bakhchysarai Regional Mejlis says that neither the Council of Teachers nor members of the Mejlis knew anything about the court hearing. This is confirmed by Dilyar Seitvenliyev, head of the Council of Teachers.

Chiyhos is convinced that this is a continuation of the repression against the Mejlis, or self-governing body of the Crimean Tatars.  It’s absurd, he says, to talk about 105 UAH not having been paid when there are buildings in Bakhchysarai which haven’t paid any rent for years and are owning tens, or even hundreds of thousands of UAH.  He points out that the entire banking system has been closed in the Crimea for several months now and there simply wasn’t any possibility of making the payment.

For more on what seems very clearly a major attack on the Mejlis, please see: Crimean Tatar Mejlis given 24 hours to leave

From reports at QHA and Krym. Realii