By KYIV. Nov 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine condemned the sentences handed down by the illegal Russian occupation authorities in Crimea to Ukrainian civilian journalists Osman Arifmemetov, Ruslan Suleymanov and Rustem Sheikhaliev, as well as activists Yashar Muedinov and Enver Ametov.
"Osman Arifmemetov, Ruslan Suleymanov and Rustem Sheikhaliyev were sentenced to 14 years in a strict regime colony. Yashar Muedinov and Enver Ametov were sentenced to 13 years in prison. Thus, the total term of conviction of Crimean political prisoners is approaching 1,300 years," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a comment on Thursday.
The ministry recalled that in March 2019, citizen journalists were illegally detained on trumped-up charges of organizing and participating in the alleged activities of a terrorist organization and preparing for a violent seizure of power.
"All these years they have been under severe pressure from the judicial system of the Russian Federation, the methods of which are torture and psychological pressure. Their imprisonment has already become a traditional revenge for the pro-Ukrainian position and resistance to the Russian occupation of Crimea. These shameful sentences are a demonstration of force where there is none, and another manifestation of disregard for fundamental human rights," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stressed.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry calls on the international community and partners on the International Crimean Platform to continue political, diplomatic, sanctions and economic pressure on the Russian Federation in order to immediately release all Ukrainian citizens illegally imprisoned by the Putin regime. In addition, the Ministry assured that Ukrainian diplomats will continue to fight for the release of each and every illegally imprisoned citizen of Ukraine, including by attracting maximum attention to the fate of political prisoners through the initiative launched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine of public advocacy mentoring over illegally imprisoned Russian civil journalists.
