“The court found Mr.E. and Mr.G. guilty of committing crimes under Part 2 of Art. 208 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and sentenced each to 8 years of imprisonment with restraint of liberty for a period of 1 year,” according to the website of the Kievskiy District Court of Simferopol.
“Residents of the Republic of Crimea, Mr.E. and Mr. G., acting deliberately, out of political enmity towards the Russian Federation and the fact that the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol became part of it, voluntarily joined the illegal armed unit “Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan” quartering in the territory of the Kherson region of Ukraine, which is not included in the structure of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, and the National Guard of Ukraine,’ the court press release says.
According to an unofficial information, these could be Akim Gafarov and Nazim Eneleyev. Both of them were previously included in the Russian “Register of organizations and physical persons known for their involvement in extremist activities or terrorism.”
We would remind that the reason to persecute the Crimeans for participating in the Noman Chelebidzhikhan Crimean Tatar volunteer battalion, according to the occupation authorities of Crimea, is membership in an organization that aims to de-occupy the peninsula.
At the same time, this organization does not take part in an armed conflict or other military actions, therefore, in the opinion of CHRG experts, persecution for participation in the Noman Chelebidzhikhan battalion may be classified as politically reasoned.
