12 November 2024
Occupiers Illegally Detained Lawyer Rustem Kiamiliev on False Charges of “Demonstrating Extremist Symbols”
Representatives of the occupation security forces detained human rights activist Rustem Kamilev for 10 days based on the decision of the occupation “court” on administrative arrest on charges of allegedly “demonstrating extremist symbols.” His lawyer, Edem Semedlyayev, appealed against the decision of the “court of first instance.” Today, on November 12, a meeting of the so-called “Supreme Court of Crimea” was held, during which the appeal was rejected, and Rustem was left in custody.
The occupation “court” found Rustem Kiamiliev allegedly guilty under Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation of “discrediting the Russian army.” The illegal charge against Rustem Kamilev was based on a 2020 Facebook post that referred to an unlawful “trial” of Ukrainian Oleh Prykhodko. The photo showed Prykhodko with a picture of a trident and a red and black flag. The so-called “Center for Countering Extremism” claimed that these were the symbols of the Right Sector organization, which is banned in Russia. During the hearing, Mr. Kamilev stated that his post was for informational purposes and that he had no intention to display the so-called “extremist symbols.”
The second administrative report against Rustem Kamiliev was drawn up for “discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” by reposting a video criticizing the wars in Syria and Ukraine in 2017. Kamiliev was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined 50 thousand rubles on these two charges.
Rustem Kamilev’s lawyer, Edem Semedliaiev, emphasized that the case does not contain any elements of an offense:
“I believe that the norms of administrative law were violated. The ‘court’ incompletely and prejudicially examined the case materials, containing insurmountable contradictions.”
On November 7, 2023, the occupation security forces of the so-called “Center for Countering Extremism” conducted an illegal search in the house of Rustem Kamiliev and his wife, Lilia Hemedzhy. The formal reason for the search was Kamiliev’s suspicion of alleged “involvement in a terrorist organization.” However, according to Lilia Hemedzhy, the real purpose was to seize phones and documents related to the lawyer’s status, as such actions are illegal within the framework of administrative proceedings. Representatives of the occupation security forces brutally restrained Rustem Kamiliev. They pushed him face down to the floor when he tried to protect his wife, whose phone was forcibly taken away. The occupiers also threatened the couple’s son with illegal conscription.
On March 20, 2023, the lawyers’ licenses of Hemedzhy and Kamiliev were revoked on appeal by the so-called “Crimean Bar Association”. Also, in May 2023, the spouses of the human rights defenders received illegal warnings about the “inadmissibility of violating the so-called ‘law on rallies.’”
The occupiers are pursuing a policy of persecuting Ukrainian citizens in temporarily occupied Crimea through illegal detentions and administrative prosecutions on trumped-up cases, which is a severe violation of human rights and international humanitarian law. Only the de-occupation of the Crimean Peninsula will ensure the protection of residents from pressure on political, religious, and ethnic grounds.