Lawyers who defend human rights and speak out in defence of political prisoners in Crimea are targeted by the repressive machinery of the occupation authorities and find themselves at the epicentre of attacks by law enforcement agencies. The persecution of human rights defenders in the temporarily occupied Crimea is not accidental. They have a clearly defined system aimed at forcing human rights defenders to cease their activities or work within the rules established by the occupation authorities.
On November 7, 2024, the house of lawyers Lilia Hemedzhy and Rustem Kiamilev was searched, which became known thanks to a lawyer Edem Semedliaiev. The search was carried out by officers of the Centre for Countering Extremism on the basis of a warrant issued by the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
During the investigative actions, representatives of law enforcement agencies seized cell phones and a number of legal documents, including a folder of certificates of advanced training, seven letters from the Southern District Military Court, workbooks and documents related to the lawyer’s status. The information and equipment obtained during the search threaten to become the beginning of a new large-scale campaign of persecution of civil society activists, lawyers, religious leaders and representatives of the Crimean Tatar people who have not yet left the peninsula and continue to try to protect themselves and others from the legalised arbitrariness of the RF.
The search was carried out with significant violations: citizens were not explained their rights, and were denied a copy of the protocol of the seized items. At the same time, the security forces exercised physical and psychological pressure and intimidation against the lawyer’s son, threatening to take him with them and hinting at problems with the university and the military commissariat.
During the search, the security forces used intimidation tactics, in particular, against the 21-year-old daughter of Rustem Kiamilev and Lilia Hemedzhy. In addition, law enforcement officers tried to force the lawyers’ son to go to the occupation military commissariat.
According to the Russian legislation, which the RF illegally applies in the occupied Crimea, namely Article 8 of the Federal Law “On Legal Practice and the Bar in the Russian Federation”, if a person has the status of a lawyer, the above documents can be seized only by a court decision and if they do not constitute legal privilege. However, last year, following a lawsuit filed by the so-called “Bar of the Republic of Crimea”, the lawyers’ licences of Lilia Hemedzhy and Rustem Kiamilev were terminated.
Rustem Kiamilev, after the search of his house was completed, was taken to the building of the Crimean Centre for Countering Extremism in Simferopol. Two administrative reports were drawn up against him for publications on his personal Facebook page dated June 9, 2020 and October 21, 2017. The Kyiv District Court of Simferopol ruled to find the lawyer guilty of committing an administrative offence under Part 1 of Article 20.3 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences, sentenced him to 10 days in prison and a fine of RUB 50,000 for the offence under Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of the Russian Federation on Administrative Offences. One of the publications depicted the state symbols of Ukraine, which the Centre for Countering Extremism attempted to falsely present as symbols of the Right Sector organisation.
Arbitrary detentions of lawyers in the Russian-occupied Crimea, intimidation, deprivation of their right to practise law have occurred not for the first time and grossly violate the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers adopted by the VIII United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention (1990), which guarantee the possibility of unimpeded exercise of their powers by defence lawyers (without intimidation, inappropriate interference and punishment for professional activities).
Ukrainian human rights organisations express their strong protest against the latest repressions carried out by Russian law enforcement agencies in the occupied Crimea. The persecution of lawyers in Crimea is not a random incident, but a systemic phenomenon that has become part of Russia’s strategy of repression against political activists, human rights defenders and journalists. During the 10 years of occupation of Crimea, at least 13 lawyers on the peninsula have become victims of oppression by the Russian occupation administration, which takes the form of arbitrary searches, arbitrary detentions, administrative arrests and administrative fines in politically motivated cases, deprivation of the lawyer’s licence, blocking of mobile communications, threats of criminal prosecution, etc. In addition, human rights defenders Emir-Usein Kuku, Server Mustafaiev, Riza Izetov and Iryna Danylovych are currently serving long prison sentences. Lawyers and human rights defenders remain the last bulwark of justice and human rights protection in the occupied Crimea. It is therefore important that the international community continues to support these people who are fighting for justice in the face of lawlessness and arbitrariness.
We, the human rights organisations, are addressing international organisations and foreign governments with the following demands:
- Strongly condemn the repression of lawyers Lilia Hemedzhy and Rustem Kiamilev and other lawyers in the occupied Crimea and to demand that the Russian occupation authorities stop their illegal persecution.
- Introduce personal sanctions against those responsible for gross human rights violations in the occupied Crimea, in particular, against the employees of the Center for Combating Extremism, the so-called “judges” and “investigators” who are engaged in political persecution of lawyers in the occupied Crimea.
- Provide support to lawyers, human rights defenders, activists and their families who are subjected to reprisals for their professional activities.
- Continue to monitor the human rights situation in Crimea, documenting human rights violations and war crimes in order to facilitate the prosecution of those responsible.
NGO CrimeaSOS
Human Rights Centre ZMINA
Human Rights Center Diya
Center for Civil Liberties
Platform for the release of political prisoners
NGO Crimean Process
Human Rights House Crimea
Association of relatives of political prisoners of the Kremlin
Crimean Human Rights Group
