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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Crimean Tatar activists face 'extremism' warning |
| 2014-05-06 |
| [Beirut Daily Star] A leader of the Crimean Tatars, a Mohammedan minority group on the Moscow-controlled peninsula, said Monday that the new Russian authorities had threatened to prosecute them for "extremism". The leader of the ethnic minority's assembly, known as the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov, said the chief regional prosecutor had on Sunday read him an official warning to stop "extremist activities". The warning came after hundreds of pro-Kiev Tatars clashed with the region's authorities at the weekend because of a ban on their spiritual leader visiting Crimea. Chubarov said he feared that the authorities planned to prosecute him. "I know that a criminal case will be opened against me today," he told AFP, expressing fears that the authorities were gearing up to launch "repressions" against Tatar activists. "There will also be attempts to declare the Mejlis an bully boy organization," he said. In March, Crimea's 300,000 Tatars, who make up around 12 percent of the peninsula's population largely boycotted a disputed referendum in which the majority voted to join Russia. Crimea's regional prosecutor, Natalia Poklonskaya, has warned the community that its assembly will be banned if the Tatars continue with "extremist activities," according to the Mejlis. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Speaking of Russia in recession ... ... * See also RELATED TOPIX > [VOA News] KERRY: MORE US SANCTIONS COULD TAKE A "BIGGER BITE" FROM RUSSIA'S ECONOMY. * RELATED SAME > RUSSIA TO CRIMEAN TATARS: "YOU'RE EITHER WITH US, OR AGAINST US". Words + warnings which of course will endear Russia to the numbers of Regional + International Hard Boyz repor gathering in LIBYA + SYRIA + IRAQ. * FYI WORLD NEWS > [Daily Beast] SO MANY JIAHDISTS ARE FLOCKING TO LIBYA, SOME COUNTER-TERRORISTS [Experts] NOW CALL IT "SCUMBAG WOODSTOCK". Such large numbers weren't planned or anticipated but it happened anyway. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2014-05-06 23:21 |