24/03/2022 12:01

Commissioner: illegal searches in the apartment of the head of the CEC of the Kurultay of the Crimean Tatar people Zair Smedlyaev

In the village of Krasnogvardiyske in the temporarily occupied Crimea, searches are being conducted in the apartment of the chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Kurultay of the Crimean Tatar people Zair Smedlyaev.

 Employees of the Russian Center for Countering Extremism, the FSB and riot police broke into the house at 7.30 am, where only Zaire and his wife were.  None of the relatives were allowed to enter.

 So far, Zair Smedlyaev has been taken to the local police station, his phone, laptop and hard drive have been confiscated.

 Searches of Ukrainian citizens' homes in the temporarily occupied Crimea are contrary to international norms and are in direct violation of Article 5 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which guarantees everyone the right to privacy, and Article 8 of the Convention - respect for family life.

 I call on the international community to respond to the actions of Russian security forces in the annexed Crimea and to increase pressure on Russia to stop further human rights violations on the peninsula.