Ilmi Umerov, vice chairman of the Mejlis, accused of separatism for his statements against the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula to Russia. Daughter denounces the conditions in which her father is hospitalized in Simferopol: forbidden visits and medicines. The man suffers from diabetes and Parkinson's.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - While the Crimea - annexed by Moscow in 2014- is once again a front of tension between Ukraine and Russia, the Black Sea peninsula Muslim minority Tatar community is under growing pressure from the Kremlin.
Ilmi Umerov, deputy chairman of the Mejlis - a representative body of the Crimean Tatars, banned by the local Prosecutor's Office on charges of "extremist activity" - was taken to the clinic in Simferopol, August 11, for a "psychiatric evaluation" after being accused of separatism in May.
The activist, 59, had openly sided against the annexation of the Crimea by Russia, which culminated in a referendum two years ago that was never recognized by the international community. The authorities had allowed Umerov to stay home during the investigation, until the judges ruled he be hospitalized for 28 days for an evaluation.
Umerov's daughter Ayshe, has taken to Facebook to denounce the conditions in which the father is hospitalized, in hospital number 9 in the capital of Crimea. "My father is not allowed to receive visitors, to our knowledge he is alone on a ward, and we can not get anything to him" said the woman. "The most disgusting thing – she continues - is the situation regarding his medication: they will not allow him to have them. Everything is kept in the infirmary, as they say that only doctors can decide which medicines he can take".
Umerov has Parkinson's disease and grade III diabetes, so he must follow medication carefully. "We are concerned about his health," writes Ayshe, recalling that recently her father risked a heart attack. The Russian NGOs for the defense of the human rights organization Memorial has called the Umerov case "illegal and politically motivated".
This month Russia accused Ukraine of having tried twice, on August 7 and 8 , to send "saboteurs" to the Crimea: the alleged attackers were repelled, at the cost of the lives of two Russian security services agents (FSB). Kiev has denied the accusations and in turn accuses Moscow of
provocations. Shortly after the deputy head of the Crimean government, Ruslan Baalbek, warned that Ukraine is organizing new acts of sabotage to destabilize the situation; he added that the Tatar community is being exploited to this end, presenting it as a counter-movement to the unification with Russia. According to Baalbek, however, this minority is "fully integrated" in Russian society.
From the outset the Tatars have been strongly opposed to the Crimea's independence from Kiev and annexation to the Russian Federation. Forcibly deported under Stalin, this community which only returned to the peninsula in the 1990's, has been coming under increasing pressure of local authorities in the past two years.