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1.\u00a0April 13, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n Crimea\u2019s fate will be decided solely by the Crimean Tatars<\/a><\/p>\n – The Executive Board of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars, which met in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on 11-13 April 2016, for its 4th meeting, released a declaration.<\/p>\n – It was decided at a conference called \u2018Massive human rights abuses in occupied Crimea\u2019 that Crimea\u2019s fate will be decided solely by the Crimean Tatars. Any decision made against the will of the Crimean Tatars shall be deemed unjust.<\/p>\n – The Congress\u2019s participants assured the international community of their readiness for dialogue at the international level and called on the nations of the world to do more for de-occupation of Crimea.<\/p>\n – The World Congress of Crimean Tatars adopted the following list of demands:<\/p>\n – The World Congress of the Crimean Tatar people (WCCT) is an organization bringing together Crimean Tatars living in their historic homeland of Crimea, as well as in Turkey, Romania, Poland, USA, Canada, Lithuania, Western Europe and Central Asia.<\/p>\n – Held in Simferopol \/Aqmescit on May 9, 2009, the first meeting of the World Congress of the Crimean Tatars was attended by 420 delegates from 13 countries. At that meeting, Refat Chubarov was elected the organization\u2019s Chairman.<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0April 14, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n Members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation <\/a>urge nations of the worlds not to forget about Crimea<\/a><\/p>\n – Held in Turkey\u2019s Istanbul on April 14, 2016, the 13th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, called \u2018Unity and Solidarity for Justice and Peace\u2019, was attended by representatives of 56 member countries, including a Ukrainian delegation comprised of Mustafa Jemilev, Advisor to Ukrainian President on Crimean Tatar Affairs, Refat Chubarov, Mejlis Chairman, and Rustem Umerov, a Qurultai delegate.<\/p>\n – Russia, whose delegation also attended the summit, was present in an observer capacity.<\/p>\n – Members of the summit paid special attention to the plight of the Crimean Tatars living in Crimea. Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan urged OIC members to support Ukraine and Crimean Tatars living in Russian-occupied Crimea.<\/p>\n – In his turn, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged representatives of the Islamic world to take a unified stance against Russia\u2019s occupation of Crimea, as well condemn certain countries\u2019 policy of redrawing borders.<\/p>\n – At a meeting with Mustafa Jemilev, Advisor to Ukrainian President on Crimean Tatar Affairs, and Refat Chubarov, Mejlis Chairman, Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan reiterated Turkey\u2019s commitment to provide all-round support to the Crimean Tatar people.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0April 15, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n – Hearing in a lawsuit seeking to ban the Mejlis rescheduled again<\/a><\/p>\n – Mejlis lawyers filed a motion seeking to summon to court as witnesses Remzi Ilyasov, Zaur Smirnov, Eskender Belyalov, Sadykh Tabakh, Mufti Emirali Ablayev, as well as Zair Smedlyayev and Ilmi Umerov. However, the judges overruled the motion saying that most of the above individuals would provide no more information than is already available in the motion.<\/p>\n – A hearing in a lawsuit seeking to ban the Mejlis of Crimean Tatars was rescheduled for April 25.<\/p>\n – The judges cited the failure of Nariman Jelyal, Mejlis Deputy Chairman and the main defendant, to show up for the hearing as a reason for its rescheduling.<\/p>\n – On April 13, 2016, Natalya Poklonskaya, <\/a>the so-called Crimea\u2019s Prosecutor General, issued an order whereby the Mejlis\u2019s activities in Crimea were suspended. Poklonskaya cited Articles 9 and 10 of Russia\u2019s Federal Law \u2018On countering extremist activities\u2019 as a legal reason for the order. The order was forwarded to Russia\u2019s Justice Ministry so the Mejlis was put on the list of public and religious entities whose activities are suspended in Russia and Crimea.<\/p>\n – The decision will be valid until \u2018Crimea\u2019s Supreme Court\u2019 has delivered a verdict in a lawsuit seeking to ban the Mejlis filed by Poklonskaya.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0April 15, 2016<\/strong><\/p>\n Hearings in cases of Mejlis members held in Russia and Crimea<\/p>\n – On April 14, Moscow\u2019s Meshchansky Court held a hearing in a complaint filed by Mustafa Jemilev, National Leader of the Crimean Tatars, against Russia\u2019s Federal Security Service\u2019s decision to ban him from entering occupied Crimea.<\/p>\n – Under the pretext of constituting a state secret, Mustafa Jemilev case was forwarded to Moscow\u2019s State Court.<\/a><\/p>\n – In 2014, Russian border guards, without showing any official documents, stopped Mustafa Jemilev from entering Crimea, citing an order banning him from entering the Russian Federation until 2019. Later on, Simferopol\u2019s Kiev District Court issued an arrest warrant authorizing Jemilev\u2019s arrest in absentia. Criminal proceedings were initiated against Mustafa Jemilev on three articles of Russia\u2019s Criminal Code.<\/p>\n – Additionally, Crimea\u2019s Prosecutor’s Office launched a preliminary investigation into the setting up of the Asker battalion, which will be based in Ukraine\u2019s Kherson region. At the same time, Crimea\u2019s Prosecutor’s Office is going to take a separate procedural decision against Mustafa Dzhemilev for his involvement in the setting up of the Asker battalion.<\/p>\n –\u00a0 On April 15, an investigator with the Main Investigative Department of Russia\u2019s Investigation Committee issued an indictment order against Akhtem Chiygoza as per Article 212 of Russia\u2019s Criminal Code (organizing mass riots, including violent behavior and property damage).<\/p>\n – Akhtem Chiygoz refused to testify as a defendant, because he provided all the necessary information in the course of the preliminary investigation and had nothing more to add to it.<\/p>\n – Next week, the investigators will file a motion to the court seeking to extend Akhtem Chiygoz\u2019s detention term.<\/p>\n – Of the six \u00a0men tried in the so-called February 26 case, three – Ahtem Chiygoz<\/a>, Mustafa Degermendzhi and Ali Asanov – are being held in a jail in Simferopol, while the other three – Eskender Cantemirov, Arsen Yunusov and Eskender Emirvaliyev – were released on bail and are now awaiting their sentences at home. All of them were charged with involvement in mass riots which took place during a February26, 2014 rally outside the Crimean Parliament.<\/p>\n\n