30 January 2017

Source: HRO.org 

Memorial Human Rights Centre demands an immediate end to the prosecution of Emil Kurbedinov which is being conducted under the false pretext of combatting extremism:

“On the morning of 26 January 2017, prominent lawyer and human rights activist Emil Kurbedinov was detained in Crimea.

Along with his colleague Edem Smedlyaev, the lawyer was attending a search at the house of an activist in the Crimean Tatar movement in Bakhchisarai. Traffic police stopped the lawyers’ car, after which Kurbedinov was detained by four people in masks from the Crimean Republic Interior Ministry’s Centre for Combatting Extremism.

Later that day, the district court of Simferopol found him guilty of “displaying the symbol of an extremist organisation” and sentenced him to ten days’s jail under Article 20.3, Section 1, of the Administrative Offences Code of the Russian Federation. At time of writing, Kurbedinov was serving this sentence.

The occasion of the arrest and conviction was a post on Kurbedinov’s page on the website Vkontatke. The entry was old – from 7 June 2013 – and related to a Hizb ut-Tahrir rally conducted in Simferopol. It had been published prior to the establishing of Russian control in Crimea, and contains no calls to seize power, or any incitement to hatred and hostility.

During his trial, the lawyer said that the post was not intended as propaganda for any group banned in Russia. By contrast, in Ukraine, and in almost all western countries except Germany, Hizb ut-Tahrir is a legal organisation.

After his arrest, Kurbedinov’s apartment and office were searched, and all his electronic equipment was seized. It is possible that the security services will take further provocative steps against him.

Emil Kurbedinov is one of the leading lawyers in Crimea. He is known for his active stance on the defence of victims of political persecution in Crimea – leaders of civil society, religious believers and others, and works with human rights defence organisations and mass media. He took part in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw in autumn 2016.

Memorial Human Rights Centre demands an immediate end to the prosecution of Emil Kurbedinov which is being conducted under the false pretext of combatting extremism.

Security services are placing unacceptable pressure on the lawyer, who has expressed criticism of the human rights situation in Crimea, and obstructing his professional activity.”

Translated by Anna Bowles