Russia's FSB Detains Six Crimean Tatars Accused Of Being Hizb ut-Tahrir Members
By the Crimean Desk of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
Activists in Russian-controlled Crimea say six Crimean Tatars have been detained on suspicion of extremism in what the activists and the Ukrainian government say is part of a discriminatory campaign targeting members of the Muslim group.
The Federal Security Service (FSB) branch in Crimea, which Russia occupied and seized from Ukraine in March 2014, said on October 11 that six members of the Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir, were detained in the city of Bakhchysaray.
It said the detentions took place after searches were conducted in the suspects’ houses.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Russia.
Lawyer Emil Kurbedinov told RFE/RL that the detained men are Marlen Asanov, Server Zekiryayev, Ernest Ametov, Seyran Saliyev, Memet Belyalov, and Timur Ibragimov.
The Crimean Solidarity rights group said that several more Crimean Tatars were also detained while protesting against the searches.
A Crimean activist, Nariman Dzhelalov, said in a video posted on Facebook that the six alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir members are activists known for opposing Moscow's takeover.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maryana Betsa sharply criticized Russia over the detentions.
"Is there a limit to cynicism? More proof of discrimination against Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea. International pressure on the occupier must be increased," Betsa tweeted.
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they call a persistent campaign of oppression targeting members of the indigenous Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar minority and other citizens who opposed Moscow's annexation.
The majority of Crimean Tatars opposed Russia's takeover of their historic homeland.
The searches and detentions on October 11 were held just days after four other Crimean Tatars were arrested on allegations that they were members of Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni Muslim movement that is also banned in Russia.
With reporting by Interfax
EU States Agree On 'Aspiration' Declaration About Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova
By Rikard Jozwiak
BRUSSELS -- EU ambassadors have agreed to recognize the European aspirations of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, according to a draft statement of next months’ Eastern Partnership summit seen by RFE/RL.
Ambassadors from the 28 European Union member states agreed on the language of the draft declaration during a meeting in Brussels on October 11.
“Summit participants acknowledge the European aspirations and the European choice of the partners concerned, as stated in the Association Agreements,” the document reads, referring to Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine -- countries in the Easter Partnership that have concluded the agreements with the EU in recent years.
The Eastern Partnership is an EU initiative that governs relations with six former Soviet republics.
It is aimed at creating a mechanism for talks on trade, economic strategy, travel agreements, and other issues between the EU and Eastern European countries.
The draft declaration approved by EU ambassadors on October 11 uses language from the final declaration of the 2015 Eastern Partnership summit in Riga.
The draft text will now be sent to the six Eastern Partnership countries, which also include Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Belarus.
Poroshenko Urges PACE Not To Return To 'Business As Usual 'With Russia
By RFE/RL
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has urged the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to keep pressure on Moscow over “the Russian aggression in Ukraine,” urging the assembly not to return to “business as usual” with Russia.
Speaking at PACE’s plenary session in Strasbourg, France, Poroshenko said on October 11 that Ukraine is fighting a war on two fronts at the same time – one to counter military aggression and restore its territorial integrity, and the other to implement difficult and complex reforms.
Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimea region in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegal by dozens of countries. It also backs separatists in a war that has killed more than 10,000 people in eastern Ukraine since April 2014.
In the wake of Moscow's takeover of the Crimean Peninsula, PACE deprived Russian delegates of voting rights.
"Systemic repressions have turned the Crimean Peninsula into an island of no freedom and a land of fear," Poroshenko told the assembly. "In the occupied Crimea, Russia applies the worst practices of the Soviet repressive machine. Anyone who dares to reject the so-called ‘reunification with Russia’ becomes a victim of arbitrary detention, prosecution, torture, extrajudicial execution, and inhuman treatment."
Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they called a persistent campaign of oppression targeting citizens who opposed Moscow's takeover.
Poroshenko also strongly rejected any suggestion that Russia’s occupation of Crimea was a fait accompli.
“This tribune was not invented for calls for appeasement,” the Ukrainian president said. “Neither was it for appeals to trade in territory for money, oil, or gas. It was invented to safeguard our fundamentals, our values, and our principles.”
The comments come a day after Czech President Milos Zeman told PACE that Moscow’s move was a “fait accompli” and that there should be dialogue over Russian compensation to Ukraine, possibly with gas, oil, or money.
Poroshenko reiterated Kyiv’s readiness to find a peaceful settlement to fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine and urged Russia to “finally begin to implement security commitments under the Minsk agreements.”
The conflict has persisted despite an agreement signed in Minsk in February 2015 that called for a cease-fire and set out steps to end the conflict that have gone largely unimplemented.
Regarding Ukraine's aspirations to become a member of the European Union, Poroshenko said that Ukraine has made “considerable progress” on the path of reforms and pledged that Kyiv would continue to bring its laws, practices, and institutions into line with the standards of the Council of Europe.
He said an “unprecedented” series of anti-corruption measures has already brought positive results and that renewing trust in Ukraine’s judiciary is his next strategic priority.
Poroshenko said that those reforms would include the creation of a special anti-corruption court that would be free of political influence.
With reporting by RFE/RL correspondent Rikard Jozwiak
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for Wednesday, October 11, 2017. Check back here tomorrow morning for more of our ongoing coverage.