THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
In Crimea, during the review of the appeal of the previously convicted journalist Nariman Dzhelal and the Akhtemov brothers, under the building of the so-called “Supreme Court,” Russian security forces detained 12 free listeners who came to hear the case, as well as two journalists in the performance of their professional duties, in particular, correspondents of the Graty publication by Lutfie Zudieva and Crimean Solidarity by Kulamet Ibraimov.
They came to the court session in order to cover in the mass media the progress of the court process being of great public interest. This was said by the ZMINA Human Rights Center and Crimean lawyer Edem Semedlyaev. “A total of 14 people, including three women, were detained. Five people were arrested. Fingerprints and DNA samples were collected from all other people, who were also photographed, and later released after receiving a warning,” said Edem Semedlyaev.
“The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) expresses full solidarity and support to the authoritative Crimean journalist/NUJU member/correspondent of the Graty publication Lutfie Zudieva!” the President of NUJU, Sergiy Tomilenko, said immediately after the journalist’s arrest. “We demand the immediate release of our colleague, who was detained today while covering another trial in Crimea! We demand the release of every illegally detained or imprisoned journalist in Crimea! The NUJU informs our international partners about today’s Russian attack on Lutfie Zudieva and Kulamet Ibraimov. Journalists are important!”
The reason for the detention, according to the police, was a message left for Emergency Service 102 about an alleged violation of public order, which, in fact, did not take place. Therefore, the message to the Service 102 was actually inspired by the security forces themselves. The detainees were taken to the Zaliznychnyi police station on the other side of the same Pavlenka Street, probably for “identification,” although their identities were clearly and without a doubt confirmed by the documents produced.
The Crimean Solidarity non-governmental association informs that 15 minutes before the arrest, several free listeners wrote complaints to the name of the illegal “head of the court” due to the fact that the security forces did not grant any permit even to relatives of the defendants, in particular their parents, to attend the court session, which was in violation of the law, as the meeting was declared open.
The police station detained: Zarema Akhtemova, Kerim Ablyamitov, Rustem Useinov, Eskender Akhtemov, Rustem Kurnosov, Server Akhtemov, Seyare Useinova, Mansur Teifuk, Nariman Abdurakhmanov, Mustafa Mustafayev, Ruslan Dzhelyalov, and Rustem Umerov.
According to journalist Kulamet Ibraimov, when he was led away, he was standing in a passage in the court, finding out whether it was possible to take pictures in the territory of the court and whether there was corresponding permission from the chairman. “While I was talking to the bailiff, two police officers approached and asked if I had documents with me, to which I provided them. After I finished with the bailiff, I wanted to go to the court office, but the staff asked me to go straight to the district police station and not even the bus. I fasted today, I fasted for a very long time, but I had to break the fast because of them,” says Kulamet Ibraimov.
The occupiers demanded that the detainees undergo forced fingerprinting and photo fixation. Journalist Lutfie Zudyeva stated that the actions of representatives of the Zaliznychnyi district police department were illegal and refused fingerprinting and photo-fixation. The mother of political prisoner Aziz Akhtemova, Zarema Akhtemova, also refused fingerprinting and photo-fixation.
NUJU lawyers say that these demands of the Russian security forces were a gross violation of the law. No one has the right to demand that journalists performing their professional duties of covering open trials undergo fingerprinting or photo-fixation. Refusal to perform these measures is not a reason for banning court attendance. Moreover, a journalist’s arrival at a court session is not “participation in a mass simultaneous presence of citizens in a public place near the Supreme Court of Crimea… for further coverage in the mass media,” since each journalist performs their duties independently.
Therefore, drawing up a protocol regarding Lutfie Zudyeva on the basis of Section 1 of Article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (the arrival of a correspondent in court is not a “public event of mass simultaneous presence…”) is illegal, since the journalist did not appear in the courtroom in some “mass order,” but in person. Drawing up a protocol regarding journalist Kulamet Ibraimov under Section 4 of Article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, supposedly for “repeated offense,” is also illegal since, in this case, there was no not only repeated but also the first violation by the journalist Ibraimov. He appeared at the courthouse to perform his professional duties, which did not involve a violation of any law.
In this case, we are dealing not just with the violation of journalists’ rights but, in fact, with the actions of security forces in Simferopol being a deliberate obstacle to journalists’ performing their professional duties. If Russia were a state governed by the rule of law, its legal authorities would not initiate cases against journalists but against those who obstruct journalists’ work during their professional duties.
However, the Russian occupation “Themis” works quite differently. The security representatives remained unpunished, and the occupation Simferopol Railway District Court ordered citizen journalist Kulamet Ibraimov to be arrested for five days under Section 4 of Article 20.2.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (Repeat commission of an administrative offense). Crimean journalist and human rights defender Lutfie Zudieva was fined RUB 12,000. The mother of political prisoner Aziz Akhtemov, Zarema Akhtemov, RUB 12,000. A fine of RUB 15,000 was imposed on activist Rustem Useinov, and a fine of RUB 15,000 was imposed on Ruslan Dzhelyalov, the brother of political prisoner Nariman Dzhelyalov.
These are illegal court decisions that are not confirmed by the actual circumstances of the case and do not correspond to the provisions of Russian laws. The NUJU demands the annulment of the said court decisions, the acquittal of the journalists, and the prosecution of security representatives who actually violated Russian law and obstructed the activities of journalists and the regular work of the court.
The NUJU appealed to the International Federation of Journalists with a request to speak in defense of the correspondents Lutfie Zudieva (Graty) and Kulamet Ibraimov (Crimean Solidarity), who were detained in Crimea on July 27.
The NUJU and the Graty publication appeal to Ukrainian and international journalistic associations and human rights organizations with a request to come to the defense of the convicted journalist and express solidarity with colleagues persecuted by the Russian authorities in Crimea.
NUJU Information Service
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