26 April 2025

April 26 — Nine Years Since the Ban of the Mejlis by the Occupation Administration in Crimea

April 26, 2025, marks nine years since the Russian occupation administration banned the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, designating it as an “extremist organization.” This decision aimed to suppress the influence of the Indigenous people in their homeland—a people who have always resisted Russian colonialism.

On April 13, 2016, the occupation”court” upheld the claim of the so-called “prosecutor’s office” to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, and by April 26, the decision had come into force. The international community—including the United Nations, the European Union, and global human rights organizations—strongly condemned this act as a flagrant violation of the rights of the Indigenous people.

Despite all the pressure and repression from the occupation administration, the Mejlis continues its activities in the territory controlled by Ukraine—representing the interests of the Crimean Tatar people on the international stage, defending human rights, advocating for the de-occupation of the peninsula, and seeking the restoration of justice.

The ban on the representative body of the Crimean Tatars has only strengthened their resolve to remain masters of their own land and to speak with their own voice. No repressions or unlawful actions by Russia can suppress the struggle of a free people. Crimea will be free—and this is our common goal, supported by the entire civilized world. The international community continues to stand with the Crimean Tatar people in their fight for democratic values.