Month: March 2019

When Stalin deported the Crimean Tatars in 1944, he loaded all of them on trains in the course of a few days and sent them to Central Asia, an action that is almost universally recognized and denounced as an act of genocide. But today, Vladimir Putin is doing much the same thing but in slow motion and getting away with it.

Early today, March 14, Airat Dilmuhametov’s apartment was searched, Bashkir activist and dissident himself was detained.

Seven persons in masks appeared to be FSB operatives in Bashkortostan, as NewsBash reports.

A group of five activists held a demonstration yesterday at the Russian consulate general in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv to demand the return of Crimea to Ukraine, freedom for Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russia, and the right of self-determination for the captive nations within the current borders of the Russian Federation.

All-Tatar community center made a statement in protecting of Azat Miftakhov, graduate student of Moscow state university, Nizhnekamsk native, as reported by Azatliq Radiosi.

“The aim of initiative is defence of human rights, defence of peoples in modern-day Russian empire, which is aggressor state and demonstrates complete absence of values, common for all civilized countries”, said Mykola Knyazhytskyi, chairman of Ukrainian parliamentary committee on culture and spirituality, on March 6 during briefing in press-centre of Glavkom Information and Analysis Agency.

Yesterday activists in Tatarstan celebrated release of Danis Safarghali, well-known leader of Altyn Urda (Tatar patriotic front), who spent 864 days in Russian prison. However already today in Kazan young activist Batyrkhan Agzamov, member of Azatliq Union of Tatar Youth was prosecuted for incitement to hatred on ethnic basis (article 20.3.1 of Code of Administrative Offences of Russian Federation). Agzamov was sent to jail for 5 days. 

On March 1, Free Idel-Ural civic movement organized picketing of diplomatic establishments of Russian Federation in Great Britain, Ukraine, Poland, Finland and USA. Activists gathered with demands to stop oppressions of freedom of speech in internet, to abolish censorship in mass-media and to release political prisoners which are being held in Russian prisons for political reasons.