Number of raids on houses in occupied Crimea doubles

In the first quarter of 2019, Russian security officers conducted 45 raids in the occupied Crimea, including 36 on the houses of Crimean Tatars. The number of raids doubled compared with the same period last year.

“Security officers raid the houses of Crimean Tatars on suspicion of alleged participation in ‘illegal armed groups.’ The massive searches are also being conducted on suspicion of participation in the organizations banned in Russia: Hizb ut-Tahrir and Jehovah's Witnesses. This is stated in the report of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center on human rights violations in Crimea for the first quarter of 2019," the Crimean Tatar Resource Center reports on its website.

As noted, Russian security forces conducted five searches in Crimea in January and five searches in February.

In March, a record number of searches in the current year was recorded. In the last month of the quarter, security officials raided the houses of a journalist and local residents suspected of participating in the Jehovah's Witnesses religious organization banned in Russia. One search was conducted on suspicion of participation in the Noman Çelebicihan battalion. At the end of the month, the security forces conducted massive searches in 26 houses of Crimean Tatars on suspicion of participating in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization banned in Russia.

In the first quarter of 2018, 19 searches were conducted in the occupied Crimea.

In 2018, Russian security officials conducted a total of 92 searches in the occupied Crimea, including 75 in the houses of Crimean Tatar people.

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