Russia’s terror grip on Crimea tightens with new ruling on 4 Crimean Tatar political prisoners

[TomSea]

Russia’s terror grip on Crimea tightens with new ruling on 4 Crimean Tatar political prisoners

It is a terrible indictment of Russia’s justice system that the real prison sentences passed in September on four innocent Crimean Tatars should have been seen as something of a triumph, since they were less than the prosecution had demanded.  The triumph was short-lived.  On Dec 27, Russia’s Supreme Court allowed the prosecutor’s appeal against Ruslan Zeitullayev’s 7-year sentence (as opposed to the 17-year sentence demanded) and sent the ‘case’ for retrial.  The Court rejected the appeals brought by Ferat Saifullayev, Rustem Vaitov and Nuri Primov against their 5-year sentences. 

In addition to the multiple reasons for questioning the charges and trial, the Supreme Court was also confronted with a ruling from the Rostov Military Court which is quite surreal, with most of the ‘evidence’ mentioned pre-dating Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea.  This is of critical importance given that all four men are charged with involvement in an organization that was and remains legal in Ukraine and most other countries.

Continued: http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1482851670