Another news item, this time from the Crimea Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
FSB Holds Crimean Tatar Activist For Questioning, Wife Fears Terror Charge
KHOLMIVKA, Ukraine -- Crimean Tatar activist Nariman Memediminov has been taken in for questioning by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers and may face charges of propagating terrorism, his wife says.
Lemara Memediminova told RFE/RL that their house in the village of Kholmivka in the southern Bakhchysaray district was searched on March 22.
"They took him to Simferopol to the Russian FSB headquarters for questioning and it will be known later if they let him go or not. They have launched a probe against him for his video he placed on YouTube as a blogger," Memediminova said.
She expressed concern that Memediminov may be charged with calling for terrorist activities via the Internet.
Memediminova also said that the FSB officers were rude and confiscated a tablet, two mobile phones, and several books from their house.
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they call a campaign of oppression targeting members of the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar minority and others who opposed Moscow's seizure of the Ukrainian peninsula in March 2014.
The majority of Crimean Tatars opposed the Russian takeover of their historical homeland.
In March 2017, the European Parliament called on Russia to free more than 30 Ukrainian citizens who it said were in prison or other conditions of restricted freedom in Russia, Crimea, and parts of eastern Ukraine that are controlled by Russia-backed separatists.
Here's a Savchenko update from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service:
Ukraine Parliament Committee Green-Lights Savchenko Arrest
KYIV -- The Ukrainian parliament's rules committee has unanimously approved the cancellation of immunity, detainment, and arrest of lawmaker and former Russian captive Nadia Savchenko, who is accused of plotting a "terrorist" attack on the legislature.
The committee's March 22 approval of Prosecutor-General Yuriy Lutsenko's request is the first step towards Savchenko's possible arrest, as the full Verkhovna Rada must now either approve or reject the move.
Lutsenko claimed on March 15 that Savchenko planned to destroy the parliament’s roof cupola with mortar shells and kill surviving lawmakers with assault-rifle fire.
Lutsenko's accusation came after Savchenko reported to headquarters of the state state securityy, the SBU, for questioning as a witness in the case against Volodymyr Ruban, who has been a key negotiator in prisoner exchanges with the Russia-backed separatists.
Ruban was arrested earlier in March and accused of plotting to kill President Petro Poroshenko and other top officials, after he was detained while crossing into government-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine -- allegedly with large amounts of weapons and ammunition hidden in a shipment of furniture.
Ruban, whose Center for the Release of POWs has been involved in prisoner exchanges between Kyiv and Russia-backed separatists since 2014, maintains his innocence and says he was framed.
On March 20, Savchenko denied planning terrorist attacks and said that during questioning, she "deliberately discussed absurd plans for a coup attempt and terrorist attacks against high-ranking officials" as a "political provocation."
She also rejected speculation that she might have ties with Russia.