The Permanent Representative Tamila Tasheva took part in the event “Eyewitness accounts: about the war from the first hand”, organized by the British Embassy in Ukraine.
The event was also opened by Melinda Simmons, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to Ukraine, and Emine Dzhepparova, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
This is the third event dedicated to this topic, initiated and hosted by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to Ukraine Melinda Simmons. This time, the participants discussed illegal sentences in the occupied Crimea, criminal prosecutions, torture and the fate of political prisoners in detention centers or colonies in Russia, where they are illegally transferred by the occupation forces. The main goal of the event is to actualize the issue of political persecution in the occupied Crimea for foreign diplomats and to advocate the Crimean peninsula among the international community.
The Permanent Representative delivered a speech at the opening of the event. She told the audience about the number of political prisoners in the occupied Crimea, the illegal sentences of the occupiers, and also noted a certain symbolism of today’s event, as it takes place on the birthday of the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, political prisoner Nariman Dzhelal.
“Currently, the occupation forces want to transfer my friend Nariman Dzhelial from the occupied Crimea to the colony of the Russian Federation. Today he turns 43, we have no contact with him. A unique, beautiful and just man who chose the path of struggle. The struggle for freedom and independence of his people, the struggle for a free future for his country. Nariman, having survived physical and psychological torture, having received almost the maximum illegal sentence of 17 years in a strict regime colony, continues to openly support Ukraine and his fellow citizens, interviewing other political prisoners to tell their stories. Nariman’s portrait is in my office as a constant reminder of what we are fighting for. Currently, the occupiers are illegally detaining 182 political prisoners, 116 of them are Crimean Tatars. I ask you to talk about them when you leave this room. They need our support and publicity,” Ms. Tamila addressed the audience.
During the event, the participants were also presented with a photo exhibition with photos from the occupied Crimea by Stas Yurchenko, Taras Ibragimov, Elmaz Akimova and Alina Smutko. The photo exhibition featured moments from February 26, 2014, when almost 15,000 Ukrainian citizens came to a peaceful rally to protest the occupation, photos of the struggle of the wives of political prisoners and their solidarity, children of illegally detained persons, and resistance in the occupied Crimea today.
The event was also attended by: Olga Skrypnyk, head of the Crimean Human Rights Group, Ksenia Mironova, wife of Denis Mironov, a fighter of the Kherson terrorist defense who was tortured to death, Ksenia Mironova, relatives of political prisoners, including Oleksandra Barkova, sister of Bohdan Ziza, and activists working on the topic of Crimea.
Among the guests were several dozen diplomats representing the EU, North and South America, and Asia.