Umerov confirmed his civic position: Don’t recognize the Russian jurisdiction in Crimea

The deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Ilmi Umerov spoke about the forthcoming appeal to the Russian Supreme Court about the ban of the Mejlis, the «elections» in Crimea and the repressions against the Crimean Tatars.

Umerov wrote on his Facebook:

«On September 29, in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in Moscow it will be decided to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and its recognition as an extremist organization. Don’t indulge in other illusions. How do we respond to this? We don’t recognize the Russian Federation jurisdiction in Crimea, but de facto Crimea is annexed and there is established the Russian occupying authority. Europe, America and the whole world doesn’t recognize the «incorporating» Crimea to Russia and continues considering it as a part of Ukraine.

I am calling no one to nothing (I’ve already had a criminal case for the so-called public appeal for breaking the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, it’s charged for 5 years), and I would like to express my views once again. I don’t recognize the referendum on 16 March, 2014 passed in violation of the Ukrainian laws at Russian gunpoint. I don’t recognize the State Duma decision on the incorporating Crimea to Russia. I don’t recognize the so-called local elections in Crimea and the formation of authority structures. I don’t recognize the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation because the votes from the occupied and non-recognized Crimea are ranked to the overall results in Russia. In addition I want to point out the numerous human rights violations on ethnic and religious backgrounds, there are the far-fetched criminal cases about 26 February and «Hizb ut-Tahrir», missing people, warrantless questioning, detentions, searches, arrests, and finally the criminal case "for expressing opinion»...

That’s why I consider that the Supreme Court’s decision of the Russian Federation can’t be applied to the territory of Crimea since de jure it is the Ukrainian territory...

That is my opinion, and, well, I do not recognize the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation in Crimea and the decision of another state court on the territory of my homeland, I don’t recognize ...

The deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Ilmi Umerov».

To remind some facts, on May 12, the occupational prosecutor of Crimea, Nataliya Poklonskaya reported that the FSS investigators field the criminal case against Ilmi Umerov under the article on extremism. «He is suspected in committing the public appeals and actions aimed to change the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation», Poklonskaya pointed out.

The detention, house-checks, searches and criminal case, a forced psychiatric detainment and medical examination of the well-known member of the national liberation movement of the Crimean Tatars, the deputy chairman of the Mejlis, Ilmi Umerov caused a strong public and international resonance.

It’s especially obscene to place Ilmi Umerov illegally and involuntary into a psychiatric hospital. The «court’s» decision on a forced detainment was read out in the absence of Ilmi Umerov. He got sick immediately in a courtroom, and EFR (Emergency First Response) hospitalized him detecting the preinfarction angina. After this «decision» the appeal was filed in but the FSS investigators didn’t wait its reviewing. Despite the poor health including his tolerated heavy heart surgery and diabetes, Ilmi Umerov forcibly held for three weeks in a psychiatric hospital. Umerov was released from a psychiatric hospital on 7 September. He is now under an order not to leave the country.

On September 3 there had held a rally in support of Ilmi Umerov in many countries around the world. Their participants demanded to release Ilmi Umerov immediately and to cancel his criminal prosecution.