Wife, children of Crimean Tatar Zekeriaiev detained by Russian security forces

In the temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian security forces detained the wife of Asan Zekeriaiev, who was arrested a few hours earlier, together with their minor children. They were staying with the parents of the detainee's wife, Emine.

That's according to the Crimean Solidarity on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

"They (security officers - ed.) were wearing masks. They did not conduct a search. They took my sister's phone. They didn't say what they wanted to find out, about what reason... Asan was also with them. They took my sister, Asan's wife, children and said they were going to Staryi Krym," the detainee's brother Ibraim Chiki said.

Lawyer Lilia Hemedzhy said that shortly before that, 25-year-old Emine Zekeryayeva had called her and wanted to make a deal to start searching for her husband.

"Now Asan and his wife have been taken, according to relatives, to Simferopol. We are going there. I was not allowed to attend the investigative actions - without explanation. We have filed a complaint about this fact with the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Crimea," lawyer Edem Semedliaiev said.

As Ukrinform reported, in the temporarily occupied Crimea, security forces searched the house of 30-year-old Asan Zekeriaiev and took the owner with them.

This is not the first detention of Zekeriaiev by Russian security forces. In January 2022, police officers in Simferopol drew up a report against him for being present near the court building, where a case against Crimean Muslims was being considered. Then he served 14 days of administrative arrest in a special detention center.