On 27 March, security services in Crimea carried out the largest house search operation of Crimean Tatar homes since Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014. Beginning at four o’clock in the morning, FSB, Interior Ministry and Russian National Guard personnel searched 27 homes in the Crimean Tatar villages of Stroganovka, Kamenka and Aikavan near Simferopol, as well as the Belgorod district.
According to lawyers and witnesses, the searches were carried out with numerous violations of procedure. Law enforcement surrounded Crimean Tatar homes, removed individuals’ mobile phones, forbid them from contacting their lawyers or from talking to their families. Russian personnel often behaved rudely, swearing and scaring children and women. They did not present themselves as officers of the law, and did not present a search warrant or search report.
“I arrived at the search, and informed them that I represent Edem Yayachikov,” said lawyer Edem Semedlyayev. “I showed them my license. I was told to wait while the chief of the investigative group decides what to do. Two hours later, still no one had come out to see me. Usually the FSB refers to the fact that the investigation has already begun and that the lawyer is too late. But if you follow this logic, then every Crimean Tatar family should sleep next to their lawyer in case they are searched.”
