Eleven journalists in Russian-occupied Crimea are being politically persecuted by Russian-imposed “authorities”, a watchdog says.
The KrymSOS The NGO has issued the relevant report, citing its analyst Eugene Yaroshenko, as seen by Ukrinform.
“Here comes another wave of attacks that usually take place every six months. As a rule, Crimean Tatars are accused of participating in a terrorist organization. Journalists and citizen activists often become victims of searches and arrests. Currently, 11 Crimean citizen journalists are being persecuted by the occupation authorities,” said Yaroshenko.
It should be noted that on August 11, eight raids were carried out in the temporarily occupied Crimea, among which six Crimean Tatars were detained under Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Organization of the activities of a terrorist organization and participation in the activities of this organization”.
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Citizen journalist Vilen Temeryanov and activist Enver Krosh are among those arrested. It is not the first time that these men have been arrested. Temeryanov has been detained twice, the last time he was detained for several days in late 2021. Krosh said he had been tortured with electric shock while in captivity in 2015, while in 2018 he was placed in administrative prison , the report says.
KrymSOS says that of 11 citizen journalists who are being persecuted by the invaders, 10 are Crimean Tatars and another person is Iryna Danylovych.
According to Ukrinform, Crimean Tatar Enver Krosh was beaten for an hour and a half by an FSB agent on August 11.
On this day, Crimean Tatar Muslim activists were searched in Dzhankoy and the suburbs of the city. As a result, six people were arrested, including Enver Krosh, Vilen Temeryanov, Seityaga Abbozov, Murat Mustafayev, Edem Bekirov and Rinat Aliyev. Terrorism charges have been filed against them.
Crimean citizen journalist and doctor Iryna Danylovych, abducted in April, reported on the aggressive attitude of the occupiers and physical abuse by FSB agents.
The representative of the Ukrainian president for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, said that after 2015, a concept of citizen journalism spread in occupied Crimea after all independent media were forced to close in area Those who previously had nothing to do with journalism: they simply pick up the phone and film what is happening on the territory of Crimea.
