Deputy head of the Mejlis was summoned for questioning by the FSB

The first deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Ilmi Umerov, was summoned for questioning at the local FSB office at 15:00 on October 20. The head of the Central Election Commission of the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people, Zair Smedlyaev, writes about this on his Facebook page.

“I wasn’t invited for a month and a half. The investigator did not say the topic,” Umerov himselfcommented on the information.

A criminal case has been opened against Umerov for calling for separatism after his speech on a TV channel calling for the return of Crimea to Ukraine.

In April 2016, a Crimean court recognized the Mejlis as an extremist organization. At the end of September, this decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

“As for the consequences: membership in an extremist organization is a crime under Russian law. 33 members of the Mejlis are in danger, and the authorities “on the ground” can extend the persecution to members of regional and local Mejlises, then repressions could affect hundreds,” Kirill Koroteev, a senior lawyer at the Memorial human rights center, who represented the interests of the organization, commented on the court decision.