On March 29, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people filed a suit with the European Court of Human Rights in connection with the fact that the Russian authorities included the Mejlis in the list of extremist organizations, effectively banning its activities, including in the occupied Crimea, Memorial human rights center reports.
Memorial represents the Mejlis in the case, along with the European Center for Human Rights, and the Ukrainian Helsinki Group for Human Rights.
In the suit lodged with the ECHR, the Mejlis noted that with its decision, Russia violated Article 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
It is also noted that Mejlis members are being persecuted in connection with their political stance, which is a violation of Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights).
The Mejlis also complained that the Russian courts did not recognize its status as a representative body of the indigenous Crimean people, thereby violating article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).
Members of the Mejlis also claim that they were deprived of the right to a fair trial and that they could not assume that their activities would violate anti-extremist legislation.
The ECHR has now registered some 3,000 individual claims related to the events in the annexed Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
