U.K. ambassador to Ukraine concerned about Mejlis ban
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 30 September 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, U.K. ambassador to Ukraine concerned about Mejlis ban, 30 September 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5975a03c3.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
September 30, 2016
U.K. Ambassador Judith Gough with President Petro Poroshenko (file photo)
British Ambassador to Ukraine Judith Gough has expressed concerns over a ruling by Russia's Supreme Court that upheld a ban on the Mejlis, the self-governing body of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine's occupied territory of Crimea.
Gough wrote on Twitter on September 30: "Concerned at Russian Supreme Court decision banning Crimean Tatar Mejlis in illegally annexed Crimea. Russia must respect human rights."
Russia's Supreme Court ruling on September 29 upheld the decision of a Moscow-backed Crimean court to ban the Mejlis.
Mejlis chairman Refat Chubarov told journalists in Kyiv on September 30 that the Russian court's ruling will be appealed at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry condemned the Russian Supreme Court's ruling, urging Russia to immediately lift its ban and end what it called "the oppression of the Crimean Tatar community in Crimea."
On April 26, more than two years after Russia seized and illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, Crimea's pro-Russian Supreme Court branded the Mejlis as an extremist organization and officially banned it.
The Mejlis had been legalized by the Ukrainian government in 1999.
With reporting by UNIAN
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
