Activist Eldar Mensitov kidnapped, tortured, illegally arrested in Crimea

In the temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian invaders kidnapped, tortured, and put under administrative arrest Crimean Tatar activist Eldar Mensitov for allegedly "failing to comply with the legal requirements of a police officer".

"Eldar Mensitov, former member of the Simferopol regional branch of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, was abducted by occupation patrols on June 9. The activist was found only two days later, in one of the Simferopol [police] departments. The occupation court illegally arrested Mr. Eldar for allegedly ‘failing to comply with the legal requirements of a police officer’," the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea reports.

During the conversation with Mensitov, his lawyer Safiye Shabanova noticed traces of beatings on his body. He also complained of pain in his ribs.

The lawyer said that on the way out of Simferopol, the so-called "patrol officers" put Mensitov in another car with masked people inside, who took him to a police department. Later, Eldar Mensitov's car was found in a market in Simferopol.

As reported, in 2021, occupation forces illegally searched Mensitov's house due to his alleged involvement in blowing up a gas pipeline in the village of Perevalne.

Eldar Mensitov appeared in an occupation court as a defense witness in the case of Mustafa Dzhemilev who was illegally "tried in absentia" by the occupiers.

Photo: Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea