“Crimean Solidarity” is a “foreign agent” in Russia

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included the Crimean Tatar human rights association “Crimean Solidarity” in the register of foreign agents.

The department's message states that the organization, according to the Ministry of Justice, disseminated false information about the activities of Russian government bodies and participated in the dissemination of materials created by individuals and organizations that already had the status of foreign agents. Also, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation writes about the project’s contacts with Ukrainian government agencies and representatives of organizations that the Russian authorities classify as terrorist.

Crimean Solidarity was created in 2016. Members of the association state that its activities are aimed at providing legal and humanitarian assistance to those arrested and their families, as well as highlighting cases of politically motivated persecution of Crimean Tatars.

According to information posted on the official resources of the project, the legal team provides support to civil activists, journalists, bloggers, religious figures and other persons associated with public activities. Among the priority areas of work are the protection of human rights, combating discrimination and providing legal assistance in high-profile criminal cases.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly characterized Crimean Solidarity as an independent initiative to support political prisoners, while Russian authorities view the project’s activities in a different legal context.

After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, which did not receive international recognition, many residents of the peninsula who opposed the change in its status, as well as a number of public, political and religious associations, faced persecution by the Russian authorities. Organizations that operated legally on the territory of Ukraine, including the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned in Russia as terrorist, found themselves outside the legal framework of the Russian Federation, and their participants were under the threat of criminal prosecution.

According to international human rights organizations, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, pressure on civil activists, independent journalists and representatives of the Crimean Tatar community in Crimea has increased even more.