Arsen Dzhepparov, one of the two youngest Crimean Tatars facing invented ‘terrorism’ charges in Russian-occupied Crimea may well have been arrested as revenge for his refusal to secretly collaborate with the local FSB. The lack of any grounds for the accusations is of no concern to the courts and both Dzhepparov and Refat Alimov have been remanded in custody for a further 3 months

While not daring to provoke international protest by openly banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Kyiv Patriarchate, the occupation regime has from the outset done everything to drive its clergy and believers away, including the latest eviction and attacks on churches. Archbishop Kliment says that the pressure is mounting and he has received threats.

Ruslan Zeitullayev is spending his second birthday in custody, facing absurd charges. Please help inform the press and your governments of this case - pressure is needed to force Russia to put an end to this terror and help Ruslan and the others return home to their families

Russia’s calculation in crushing dissent in Crimea has proven disturbingly accurate. Ignore protest, hiding even world-renowned filmmaker Oleg Sentsov far from the media and create a virtually total blockade on information in Crimea. You can then continue abductions, disappearances and virtually indefinte imprisonment on surreal chances with little protest at all from the West.

Russia’s trial of 4 Crimean Tatars on gravely flawed ‘terrorism’ charges began on June 1 as expected – with a flagrant but telling infringement of the men’s right to a fair trial.

Lilia Budzhurova has received a formal warning of “the inadmissibility of extremist activities” 6 days after writing a moving appeal to show solidarity and support for children whose fathers are in custody in Russian-occupied Crimea on fabricated charges

Disappearances, arrests, politically motivated trials and terrorization of Crimean Tatars and all dissident voices are taking place in Ukraine’s sovereign territory which Russia invaded and annexed. Business as usual makes our commitment to democratic values as empty as the threats Putin heard and ignored back in February 2014

There is no evidence of any terrorist activities in Crimea, yet Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and 3 other opponents of annexation are serving huge sentences for supposed terrorism, and the number of such convictions is likely to increase with the trial this week of four Crimean Muslims and an ever-increasing number of new arrests

The trial has begun of four Crimean Muslims accused by Russia of involvement in an organization – Hizb ut-Tahrir - which is legal in Ukraine but which Russia and Uzbekistan have declared ‘terrorist’ without providing any reason. The ‘court’ on Wednesday also saw no need for the defence to be shown any proof.

Four more Crimean Tatars have been arrested and could face long terms of imprisonment on trumped-up ‘terrorism’ charges following the latest offensive in Russian-occupied Crimea

Armed and masked men cordoned off a Crimean mosque on May 6 as people were leaving after Friday prayers. Several dozen men tried to detain about 100 Crimean Tatars and take them away in police vans for a supposed ‘check

Safiyeka and Bekir Kuku have not seen their father since armed officers burst into their home in Yalta on Feb 11 and took Emir-Huseyn Kuku away. It is not the first time their father, a lawyer and human rights activist has been detained since Russia’s annexation of Crimea.  This time, however, the children’s Babashka has not come home

Two young Crimean Tatars are in real danger of long prison sentences. They have committed no crime, but are alleged to be involved in Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization which has also committed no crime, but which Russia decided to criminalize

Eight Crimean Muslims, including a prominent human rights activist, are in detention in Russian-occupied Crimea and facing long prison sentences for fictitious ’terrorism’ based solely on claims that they are members of a peaceful organization which is banned in Russia, but not in Ukraine

Ukraine’s parliament has adopted a law which could deprive believers of the right to alternative military service, a right enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution.

If it was bad for dialogue between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill to admit to Russia’s pivotal role in the war in Ukraine, they should have kept off the subject altogether, particularly given the evidence of systematic religious persecution by Russian & Russian-backed militants and the role played by many paramilitary groups under Russian Orthodox banners

A court in Russian-occupied Simferopol has remanded in custody four Crimean Muslims, including Emir-Huseyn Kuku from the Crimean Contact Group on Human Rights. The court hearings coincided with a second day of armed searches specifically of Crimean Tatar homes.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Kyiv Patriarchate is being forced out of the Cathedral of Vladimir and Olga in Simferopol and Archbishop Kliment of Crimea and Simferopol warns that the Church is facing dissolution and destruction as the second anniversary approaches of Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea

Said Ismagilov, Mufti of the Muslims of Ukraine, reports that Thursday’s armed search on the Islamic Cultural Centre Mosque in Simferopol was the third such raid by the FSB and the second time that so-called prohibited literature was planted.

Ukraine is unique, according to Said Ismagilov, Mufti of the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Ukraine, and could share important experience with the rest of Europe since Muslims have been fully integrated into Ukrainian society for over a thousand years.