The five Crimean Tatars recently detained by Russia in occupied Crimea are being tortured says First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar. She believes that Ukrainian citizens can face sentences of up to fifteen years in prison in false cases.
FSB (Russian Security Service) officers detained Eldar Odamanov in the morning on September 3, and Aziz Akhmetov, Asan Akhmetov and Shevket Useinov at night on September 4. In the morning on September 4, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Nariman Dzhelal was detained after searches in his house.
According to Emine Dzheppar, after the whereabouts of Nariman Dzhelal and the Akhtemov brothers were discovered, independent lawyers were denied access.
“My sources claim that the detainees are being tortured. They are being subjected to illegal investigation tools, psychological and physical pressure,” Dzheppar said.
“We see this as revenge for their participation in the inaugural summit of the Crimea Platform on August 23,” she wrote on Facebook on Sunday, September 5.
Еміне Джеппар
Indicating that Russian occupiers have done everything according to the usual scenario of case falsification, the First Deputy Foreign Minister recalled that the gas pipeline was damaged near the village of Perevalne, Simferopol district on August 23, the day Crimean Platform was launched in Kyiv. The pipeline had been supplying gas to a military unit in Perevalne.
The case on intentional destruction of or damage to property under Part 2 Article 167 of the Criminal code of the Russian Federation, was initiated to search for those involved in the incident, she added.
"Those involved", for some reason, were found just after Nariman Dzhelyalov’s return from Kyiv, where he participated in the Inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform. As per the fabricated charges, he turns out to be a saboteur and accomplice to the crime, while the Akhtemov cousins – sabotage perpetrators," Dzheppar said.
The diplomat stressed that these charges imply imprisonment for up to fifteen years.
