At least ten Crimean Tatar political prisoners, including human rights defender Emir-Usein Kuku, have been placed on so-called prophylactic registers, as inclined to ‘extremism’; to ‘attacks on prison staff’ and even to ‘escape attempts’. Although Kuku was told that the prison administration had no complaints about him personally, and was just obeying an order, such moves are very likely to be used as a pretext for imposing even more repressive measures against the political prisoners. The men’s lawyers believe that such registers are pressure on the Crimean Tatars who refuse to admit to the preposterous charges used against them and to collaborate with the prison administration.
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Halya Coynash: Crimean Tatars face new repression
Crimean Tatars pray inside a mosque during the sacrificial Eid al-Adha festival in Yevpatoria, Crimea, on Sept. 24, 2015.
