This infamous act is a continuation of the Russian Federation’s maleficent policy in the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea, aimed at discrediting the entire Ukrainian people and intimidating the Crimean Tatar activists who resist such policy.

It is to be noted that Mr. Ahtem Ciygoz arrest followed a police raid at the offices of ATR, the Tatar TV Channel in Simferopol, on 26 January 2015 and the confiscation of archival materials related to the 26 February’s events. The only “fault” of the TV Channel is the coverage of those events.

We demand that the Russian occupation authorities immediately release Mr. Ahtem Ciygoz, stop the persecution of the Crimean Tatars and take steps to stop the systematic violations of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

We call on the international community to condemn the acts of persecution and terror against the Crimean Tatars in Crimea.

We believe that repressions by the occupation authorities will not break the spirit of the Crimean Tatar people that survived the deportation carried out by the Stalin’s regime.