On Dec 27, Russia’s Supreme Court allowed the prosecutor’s appeal against Ruslan Zeitullayev’s 7-year sentence (as opposed to the 17-year sentence demanded) and sent the ‘case’ for retrial. The Court rejected the appeals brought by Ferat Saifullayev; Rustem Vaitov and Nuri Primov against their 5-year sentences.

At least one of the Crimean Muslims facing fabricated ‘terrorism’ charges under Russian occupation has reported being tortured and threatened when brought to court hearings and a lawyer reports that FSB special force officers are present and used as a menacing threat when the men are taken to see the investigator.

Emir-Huseyn Kuku, a human rights activist imprisoned in Russian-occupied Crimea on gravely flawed charges has been placed in a psychiatric clinic. This is purportedly for a ‘psychiatric assessment’, but the lack of any grounds and forced hospitalization make charges of punitive psychiatry in his case and that of five other prisoners arrested with him warranted.

The Charter of Muslims of Ukraine and its affirmation of support for Ukraine’s unity are especially vital given the challenges brought by Russia’s occupation of Crimea and military conflict in Donbas.

Muslim Aliev, a Crimean Tatar held in detention since armed and masked men burst into his home, terrifying his children, in February this year, has now been forcibly placed in a psychiatric clinic in Simferopol. There are fears that he and other political prisoners will face undisclosed ‘psychiatric treatment’.

After placing Crimean Tatar leader Ilmi Umerov’s life in danger through effective imprisonment in a psychiatric institution, the Russian FSB in occupied Crimea are now planning forced ‘psychiatric assessments’ of Crimean Tatar human rights activist Emir-Huseyn Kuku and five other Crimean Muslims. Their lawyers have condemned the move as unacceptable pressure on the men.

The abductions, disappearances, politically motivated trials seen in Crimea since Russia’s invasion have long been a bitter reality in the Russian Federation. Some seem particularly cynical from a regime which seized control through the use of armed soldiers without insignia and lawless paramilitaries

Archbishop Kliment, the Head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Kyiv Patriarchate in Crimea, was detained on Oct 19. He was released this time but fears that Russia may be planning to ban him from occupied Crimea as it has Mustafa Dzhemliev and others

Five more Crimean Tatars are in custody in Russian-occupied Crimea accused of involvement in an organization which is legal in Ukraine. The five men are all devout Muslims and some at least have this year or last taken part in the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca. Under Russian occupation, no more appears to be needed to face imprisonment on concocted ‘terrorism’ charges.

There are absolutely no grounds, but the case against Ruslan Zeytullaev; Ferat Saifullayev; Rustem Vaitov and Nuri Primov now looks bad for the prosecutor, since even the court in Rostov could not ignore the lack of any evidence to back the charges and passed the minimum sentences possible.

Ukraine’s Constitutional Court has declared unconstitutional the demand that permission be received from the local authorities for holding public religious events. The requirement was discriminatory and illogical since Ukraine’s Constitution requires only that people notify of plans to hold a peaceful gathering

The sentences could have been much worse which is the only positive thing to say about the conviction on Wednesday of four Crimean Tatars on trumped up charges. The men’s defiant T-shirts and taped mouths said it all.

For the third time since Russia’s invasion of Crimea, an armed ‘search’ has been carried out of the Mosque / Muslim Cultural Centre Sozidanye [Creation] in Simferopol. As on previous occasions, the armed men in masks were on the hunt for ‘prohibited literature’, and, conveniently, ‘found’ it – this time with insulting disregard for Muslim practice, near a toilet.

Russia is already imprisoning 14 Crimean Muslims, almost all Crimean Tatars, on trumped-up charges. Without international protest, that number is certain to rise, with Russia as occupier of Crimea using such conveyor-belt prosecutions to imprison rights activists or others who take a strong civic position

The FSB must view telling the truth as a threat to Russia’s national security since there were no other grounds for banning Yevhenia Zakrevska. She is representing Emir-Huseyn Kuku whom the FSB first tried to ‘recruit’, then abduct, and are now holding in prison on trumped-up charges

The ‘trial’ is ending in Rostov [Russia] of four Crimean Muslims from Sevastopol, who are accused by the Russian occupiers of involvement in an organization which is legal in Ukraine. The prosecutor has demanded sentences of from 7 to 17 years.

Crimean Imams have been warned that traditional prayer rituals at the homes of Crimean Muslims could fall under Russia’s new draconian ‘anti-extremism’ laws and be effectively prohibited. Such a new repressive move under Russian occupation has thus far only been hinted at, however the warning seems clear

Rustem Vaitov, a recognized political prisoner, is facing a 10-year sentence in a trial which Russia is using as part of its policy of intimidation and terror in occupied Crimea

Ferat Saifullaev is facing a 10-year sentence for alleged involvement in an organization which is legal in Ukraine. Russia is using such trials as part of its policy of intimidation and terror in occupied Crimea, and there is also evidence that the men’s arrest may be revenge by a former Ukrainian SBU officer who betrayed his oath and is now serving in the FSB.

Nuri Primov is the oldest of four Crimean Muslims now on trial in Rostov (Russia) accused of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organisation which is legal in Ukraine, but which Russia has declared ‘terrorist’ without ever providing any grounds.