A Russian court has passed appalling sentences against two sons of a renowned Crimean Tatar historian and their uncle, as well as against a civic journalist with a life-threatening heart condition. The four recognized political prisoners received terms of imprisonment from 12 to 17 years on charges that are eerily similar to that used during Stalin’s Terror against the two brothers’ great-grandfather.
Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported at 7 am Kyiv time that in the last 24 hours, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed and three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action. In the last 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front 15 times in total, including at least 5 times with heavy weapons.
Horrific sentences against Crimean Tatar civic journalist and
three members of one family for planted ‘prohibited literature’
The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) reported, “A Russian court has passed appalling sentences against two sons of a renowned Crimean Tatar historian and their uncle, as well as against a civic journalist with a life-threatening heart condition. The four recognized political prisoners received terms of imprisonment from 12 to 17 years on charges that are eerily similar to that used during Stalin’s Terror against the two brothers’ great-grandfather.
The latter was executed in 1938 for what the NKVD called ‘counter-revolutionary terrorist propaganda’ (and posthumously ‘rehabilitated’ in 1990) Seitumer Seitumerov; Osman Seitumerov; their uncle Rustem Seitmemetov and journalist Amet Suleimanov are charged with ‘terrorism’, although none is accused of a recognizable crime and the enforcement officers who burst into their homes on 11 March 2020 never pretended to be looking for anything except ‘prohibited literature’. ‘Looking for’ is hardly an appropriate term since the FSB brought the literature with them, and, having illegally prevented lawyers from being present and local residents from acting as independent witnesses, claimed to have ‘found’ these in the men’s homes. Nothing else was sought, and the ‘terrorism’ charges are based solely on religious literature, two conversations in a mosque back in 2017, and two ‘secret witnesses’ who appeared unable to distinguish one defendant from another.
Despite this, three ‘judges’ from the Southern District Military Court in Rostov (Russia) – Igor Kostin (presiding judge); Roman Plisko and Yevgeny Zviagin – on 29 October sentenced four innocent men to the following terms of imprisonment. In each case, the sentences are to the harshest of Russian prison colonies, with the first years spent in a prison, the absolute worst of Russia’s penal institutions.
Seitumer Seitumerov – 17 years’ imprisonment, with the first 3.5 years in a prison and restriction of liberty (following his release) of 1.5 years;
Osman Seitumerov – 14 years’ imprisonment, with the first 3.5 years in a prison and restriction of liberty (following his release) of 1 year;
Rustem Seitmemetov – 13 years’ imprisonment, with the first 3.5 years in a prison and restriction of liberty (following his release) of 1 year;
Amet Suleimanov – 12 years’ imprisonment, with the first 3.5 years in a prison and restriction of liberty (following his release) of 1 year.
The last is a death sentence since Suleimanov suffers from a number of life-threatening heart conditions. These were serious enough for occupation ‘courts’ to place him under house arrest, rather than in custody. Despite this, prosecutor Igor Nadolinsky had previously tried to get him remanded in custody and had demanded a 13-year sentence. Even house arrest had prevented him from having an urgently needed operation, and there is effectively no chance that he would survive even the first years in a Russian prison.
During their final addresses to the court on 27 October, the men pointed out the absurdity of the charges against them, as well as the real crimes that Russia’s FSB miss while expending money and men on persecuting civic activists, journalists and, generally, any devout Muslims in occupied Crimea. Under Russian occupation, FSB officers, including the turncoats who betrayed their oath to Ukraine, can easily ramp up their statistics on ‘fighting terrorism’ and expect promotion or bonuses by copy-pasting ‘terrorism prosecutions’ against law-abiding Crimean Tatars with no risk to themselves, and minimal effort.”
The full report from the KHPG’s Halya Coynash is available here:
U.S. calls on Allies to lift restrictions on lethal aid supplies to Ukraine
Ukrinform reported, “The United States, which has been providing Ukraine with lethal defensive aid in the face of Russian aggression, is urging allies and partners to lift restrictions on security assistance.
That’s according to Assistant Secretary of Defense Laura Cooper who spoke at an online event ‘U.S. Defense and Security Engagement in the Black Sea Region,’ held by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
‘The first thing I would mention is I would like to see all allies lift their restrictions on defensive lethal assistance,’ Cooper said.
She reminded that the United States had handed Javelin anti-tank systems to Ukraine and Georgia, which she said was a clear example of defensive lethal assistance capability provided by the U.S.
‘We have a number of allies who have that as a restriction – some have it as a restriction in terms of their security assistance programs, but some also have it as a restriction in terms of their sales,” the Pentagon spokeswoman said.
‘I believe that Ukraine should be able to purchase the capabilities it needs to defend itself, so I’d like to see that restriction lifted,’ Cooper stressed.
At the same time, she noted that Ukraine continues to be the focus of U.S. attention so Washington will continue to provide defense assistance to Ukraine as the country needs to defend itself.
Cooper also reminded of the importance of reforms in defense and other areas, reaffirming U.S. support in their implementation.”
Schemes Investigation – Messenger from Firtash – what was the colleague of the oligarch doing
at the Office of President Zelenskyy?
The Radio Svoboda program Schemes reported, “An investigation, that is reminiscent of a Hollywood detective film. Its subject has changed his name several times, had dozens of passports and more than one citizen, and has been on an international wanted list on suspicion of criminal offenses.
He has also been a negotiator for Dmytro Firtash, met with former President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, and also ran for Ukraine’s parliament in the last election. He attracted the attention of ‘Schemes’ journalists, when he appeared, accompanied by numerous guards, for a meeting at the Office of President Zelenskyy. What was he doing there? With whom did he meet and whose interests was he representing? And why did this visitor have access to the highest state offices, despite his criminal past?”
The Schemes investigation can be viewed below:
Ukraine reports 26,870 new covid-19 cases, 648 deaths, 289,241 vaccinations in past 24 hours
The Ukrainian Government reported, “According to the Public Health Center of Ukraine, as of October 28, in Ukraine there have been officially confirmed 26,870 (1,824 children out of this number, 491 healthcare workers) new cases of COVID-19 infection.
The COVID-19 vaccination campaign started on February 24, 2021. Since the beginning of the immunization campaign, 17,082, 799 vaccines have been made.
The number of vaccinated persons from COVID-19 from the beginning of the campaign makes up 9,790,280. On October 28, 2021, 289,241 people were vaccinated against COVID-19. […]
During the last 24 hours, there have been hospitalized 5,463 persons, 648 patients died, 9,784 persons recovered. There have been conducted 142,227 testings.”
