Another young Crimean Tatar man has disappeared
Two days after 19-year-old Islam Dzhepparov and his 23-year-old cousin Dzhevdet Islamov were abducted from Sary-Su near Belogorsk in the Crimea, another young man has gone missing.
QHA reports that on Monday Sept 29, 25-year-old Edem Asanov set off for work at the Prymorye sanatorium in Yevpatoriya. He did not arrive, and all attempts by his family to contact him have been fruitless.
His sister, Ferida Asanova says that they have already reported his disappearance to the police and have searched in hospitals.
There can be many reasons why a young man disappears, not all sinister, however after the brazen abductions on Saturday evening, concern is understandable.
The abduction and the fact that the police have still failed to find the young men, or at least an abandoned vehicle. despite the make, colour and registration number being known, suggest that new tactics are being used against the Crimean Tatars. As the head of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov noted, the FSB [security service] are basically following everything in the Crimea. If the young men have not been ‘found’, it may well be because the enforcement bodies, including the FSB, are not looking. This in turn could be because they’re not concerned about such lawlessness against Crimean Tatars, or because they know where they are.
The abduction and disappearance are not the first in Crimea since Russia’s invasion and annexation. They come at a time when the Crimean Tatars are under serious pressure with armed searches of homes, mosques and religious schools carried out and a concentrated attack underway on the Mejlis, or representative-executive body of the Crimean Tatar People.
See Chubarov: Crimea is descending into Terror and Fear
[Halya Coynash]