Deputy head of the Majlis Chiygoz received 8 years in prison for the riots on February 26, 2014
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea sentenced the deputy head of the Mejlis, banned in the Russian Federation, Akhtem Chiygoz to eight years in prison. The corresponding decision was just made in Simferopol, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
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“Today, a Russian court in Crimea recognized Akhtem Chiygoz as a citizen of Ukraine and sentenced him to 8 years in a maximum security colony,” his lawyer Nikolai Polozov wrote on his blog.
He stated that the verdict would be appealed, and Chiygoz himself “was not broken.”
“Chiygoz remains a citizen of Ukraine, therefore, in addition to actions to appeal the verdict, we will make efforts together with the Ukrainian government to release him,” the lawyer announced.
It is interesting that Polozov himself, being a citizen of the Russian Federation, called Russia an “occupier” in Crimea.
“What happened today is another illustration of the shame that the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea are trying to spread wherever they reach. But this will not break the Crimean Tatar people, Chiygoz, we will fight until victory – their liberation,” he said.
These words were met by those gathered chanting “Akhtem, we are with you!”
Chiygoz was accused of organizing mass riots during the action of Ukrainian nationalists and Mejlis members, who disrupted the session of the Crimean parliament on February 26, 2014, where a decision was expected to be made on a referendum on the Constitution of the peninsula.
Then two people died in the stampede and another 79 were injured of varying degrees of severity. Chiygoz was detained by law enforcement officers in January 2015, and the trial in his case lasted more than a year.
The court hearing in Simferopol took place under heavy police protection, and several dozen Chiygoz supporters gathered outside the walls of the Supreme Court. Among them was his comrade Ilmi Umerov, who wore a T-shirt with the image of a “prisoner” and the inscription “Freedom for Akhtem Chiygoz,” made in the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Umerov himself is also involved in a criminal case regarding public calls for the annexation of Crimea from Russia.
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