Crimea’s supreme court banned Crimean Tatars’ highest ruling body Tuesday, declaring it an “extremist” organization in a move one exiled leader said was part of a Kremlin drive to crush the minority ethnic group on the Russia-annexed peninsula.
Most Crimean Tatars, a Muslim people indigenous to the Black Sea region, opposed Russia’s seizure of the territory from Ukraine in March 2014. Representatives say they have since faced discrimination and hardship as they come under pressure to align themselves with the Russia-backed authorities.
Regional Prosecutor General Natalia Poklonskaya said the court had banned the Tatars’ assembly, or Mejlis, because its leaders had sought …read more
Source: Voice of America
