Crimean Tatar: Activist Incarcerated for Critiquing Annexation
Rafis Kashapov was sentenced to three years in jail on 15 September 2015 by the Russian Chally City court for allegedly inciting ethnic hatred. Kashapov, chairman of the Tatar Public Centre, had been vocal online about his frustrations with Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
The below article is published by Radio Free Europe:
A court in Russia's republic of Tatarstan has sentenced the chairman of the Tatar Public Centre to three years in jail.
On September 15, the Chally City Court found Rafis Kashapov guilty of calling for separatism and inciting ethnic hatred and sentenced him the same day.
Kashapov placed several articles on the Internet last year harshly criticizing Russia's annexation of Tatar-populated Crimea from Ukraine and Moscow's involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
He was arrested on December 28 upon return from Turkey.
Kashapov pleaded not guilty and called his case politically motivated.
Kashapov's Tatar Public Center is an NGO in Tatarstan's second largest city, Chally, which campaigns to preserve Tatars' national identity, language, and culture.
