Court rejected complaints of pickets’ participants in Crimea on fines

In Crimea, there started the consideration of appeals against fines for participants of mass pickets on October 14, 2017 against the political persecution over the Crimean Tatars.

The Supreme Court of Crimea in Simferopol considered the complaints of four Crimean Tatars, Ayder Zekeryayev, Rustem Ametov, Abdulmalik Susanov and Rustem Kurkchi, on Wednesday on January 31, 2018. The court did not satisfy the complaint and upheld the decisions on fines.

According to activists, no arguments of defense about the innocence of Crimean Tatars have been taken into account by the court.

«We mainly argued that there was an administrative investigation, and it was confirmed by an expertise in the administrative matter. Law enforcement officials should have informed people about launched investigation against them in order to enable these people to somehow contest it in the courts or properly build a defense line. Nevertheless, it was not done, thus comes a gross violation of our trustees rights», a defender Gafar Ablyakimov commented.

Earlier, the Crimean courts on December 18, 2017 considered more than fifty administrative cases against the Crimean Tatars, participants of the massive single pickets on October 14, 2017 against the repression on the peninsula.

According to the public association «Krymskaya Solidarnost» («Crimean Solidarity»), 60 people were fined 10,000 rubles, 5 people — 15,000 Russian rubles on December 18, 2017 during the mass court hearings against Crimean Tatars. The total amount of fines was more than half a million, 675,000 rubles. The public association reported then that the courts delayed the consideration of 10 administrative cases to other dates. Later on these people were also fined 10-15 thousand rubles.

On December 26, 2017 Crimean Tatars participated in the single pickets on October 14, 2017 began to file mass complaints against fines.

To remind some facts, on October 14, 2017 about a hundred Crimean Tatars in Crimea went to the streets with their single pickets against repression on the peninsula. As a result, at least 49 picketers were detained. Later they were all released. Activists protested against the repression against Crimean Tatars in Crimea, in particular the recent detention in Bakhchisaray. Then six Crimean Tatars were detained and subsequently arrested.