The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its resolute protest against the criminal, illegal and politically motivated sentence towards one of the leaders of Crimea Tatars` national movement, Deputy Head of Mejlis Mr. Ilmi Umerov, whom the Kremlin`s occupation authorities ordered to imprisone for 2 years in penal settlement. The sentence looks especially cynical taking into account Mr. Umerov’s age and the state of health. The lack of proper health assistance in imprisonment may lead to catastrophic consequences for him.

In spite of international pressure, Russia continues to exercise its shameful policy of oppression against independent leaders of the occupied Crimea, including Crimea Tatars, with a view of intimidating all pro-Ukrainian community of the peninsula. The Russian occupants do not only commit the gross violations of fundamental human rights and freedoms, but also ignore the relevant decisions taken by the international institutions, in particular UN General Assembly Resolution "Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)" of 19 December 2016 and the International Court of Justice Order on the Provisional Measures within the claim of Ukraine against Russia on the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.  

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on international partners of Ukraine to properly assess this illegal and politically motivated decision as well as to demand from Russia to immediately release Mr. Umerov. Only strong international political solidarity strengthened with economic sanctions is able to counter the Kremlin`s criminal and aggressive policy as well as to stop the full destruction of fundamental human rights and freedoms in the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula.