Russia has sent Crimean Tatar Nedim Khalilov against his will to Uzbekistan after illegally taking him from his Crimean home and holding him in a ‘centre for foreigners’ in Russia for 18 months. This cynical deportation of a 58-year-old who has no links with Uzbekistan can be viewed as reprisal for Khalilov’s attempt to bring legal proceedings against Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea. It may also be no accident that the long-threatened deportation has come on the eve of the 74th anniversary of the Deportation of the entire Crimean Tatar people in 1944. Under Russian occupation, traditional remembrance events have been banned, and each year Crimean Tatars have been detained on the anniversary.
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Halya Coynash: Crimean Tatar who sued Putin over annexation of Crimea ‘deported’ to Uzbekistan
This undated photo shows 57-year-old Crimean Tatar Nedim Khalilov, who, acorrding to human rights activists, became a political prisoner in Russia.
