The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its strong protest with regard to the illegitimate decision of the “court” of the Russian occupation authorities in the city of Simferopol to sentence Ukrainian citizens Ruslan Trubach, Bekir Dehermendzhy and Kazym Ametov to three years of prison, as well as Asan Chapukh to three and a half years of suspended sentence under fabricated charges of extortion.

In November 2017, Ukrainian nationals were detained by the Russian security forces for alleged “extortion” from the Turkish national who had stolen the money of Vedzhie Kashka, the Crimean Tatar national movement veteran. Russian police actions during the search and detention caused the death of Vedzhie Kashka.

The fabricated “Vedzhie Kashka case” has become one of the symbols of “justice” of the Russian occupation.

All the detainees, who are elderly people, were left without proper medical aid for a long time despite acute health problems. As a result, Bekir Dehermendzhy fell into a 3-day coma a few weeks after his arrest. Asan Chapukh had a ministroke.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemns new punitive actions of the Russian occupiers under the pretense of investigation of the so called “Hizb ut-Tahrir case”. In particular, Crimean Tatar activist Raim Aivazov was detained at a checkpoint “Kalanchak” on April 17, 2019. We demand immediate release of Raim Aivazov and other Crimean Tatars held in Russian prisons under fabricated “Hizb ut-Tahrir case”.

Ukraine demands that the Russian Federation stop human rights violations on the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, immediately release illegally detained citizens of Ukraine, ensure full compliance with its obligations as an occupying state in accordance with the international law, comply with the United Nations General Assembly Resolutions entitled “Territorial integrity of Ukraine” of 27 March, 2014, "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine) of 19 December, 2016, 19 December, 2017 and 22 December, 2018, as well as the “Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Ukraine v. Russian Federation) - Provisional measures”.

We call on the international community to step up pressure on Russia so as to bring to an end its human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Crimea, release illegally detained citizens of Ukraine and speed-up de-occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.