Persecution of Crimean Tatars, 1979 (53.22-2)

<<No 53 : 1 August 1979>>

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TRIALS IN THE CRIMEA

At the beginning of March in Simferopol, Ebazer Yunusov was sentenced to one-and-a-half years’ deprivation of freedom under Article 196 (Ukraine SSR Criminal Code: “Violation of Passport Regulations”). He was arrested in his own house in Mazanka village on 22 January 1979 after his family had twice been evicted (CCE 52.9-1).

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The Trial of Seidamet Memetov

Seidamet Memetov was arrested on 12 February and, according to information which his relatives managed with difficulty to obtain, was held under arrest ‘for clarification of his identity’ (CCE 52.9-2). They were told only on 14 March that the trial was to be held the following day in the Saki district people’s court. On the morning of 15 March, it was announced that there was no way for the accused to be brought from Simferopol and that the trial would be held in Simferopol. Police officials put the Judge» the assessors, the Procurator, two witnesses and one relative into a vehicle and drove them away from Saki to, as it later turned out, Eupatoria.

Seidamet Memetov, who was sentenced in January 1978 under Article 196 (UkSSR Criminal Code) to two years’ banishment (CCE 48.14-3), was now charged under two Articles: 185 (“Unwarranted return of a banished person to places forbidden to him, or failure to complete the sentence of banishment”) and 214 (“systematically engaging in vagrancy and scrounging”). Sentence: one year’s deprivation of freedom (Article 214), plus exile for four years (Article 185).

(The corresponding Article of the RSFSR Code 187 does not contain “failure to complete the sentence of banishment”; and the maximum penalty is the substitution of exile for banishment for the uncompleted period, i.e., in Memetov’s case this would be for two years.) From the moment of his arrest S. Memetov went on hunger-strike, Whether or not he lifted it after the trial is not known.

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Seidamet Memetov (b. 1941) lived in Margelan, Uzbek SSR, before he returned to the Crimea and worked as a welder. He was arrested in January 1968 and, together with three other participants in the national movement, sentenced under Article 191-4 (Uzbek SSR Criminal Code = Article 190-1, RSFSR Code) to six months’ deprivation of freedom (CCE 2.4-1).

After his release he took part in meetings, travelled to Moscow as a representative of the people, and was subjected to searches, detention and arrests (CCE 31.19, ///CCE 32.9-2). In January-February 1979 he again went to Moscow as a delegate, this time from the Crimea.

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Seidamet Memetov’s address in the camps is: 265452, Rovno Region, Sarny, penal institution OR-318/46-5 [addition CCE 55.12].

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The Trial of Gulizar Yunusova

The trial was held on 19 March in the town of Saki.

Yunusova was charged under pt. 2 of Article 188 (UkSSR Criminal Code: “Resisting a police official …”) for having hit Major Krivolapov on 27 December when the family of Seitnafi Borseitov was being evicted from the ‘Pribrezhny’ collective farm and technical school in Saki district (CCE 52.9-1).

During the pre-trial investigation the ‘victim’ testified that he was nearly knocked down by the blow. Yunusova, when she read this testimony (on studying the case materials), laughed and was reminded of the Tatar saying: “The sparrow swallowed the eagle.”

During the trial Krivolapov testified only that Yunusova had ‘shoved’ him. The defence lawyer asked him how much he weighed. The chief witnesses were two policemen. The court did not call the witnesses for Yunusova. The sentence passed was two years’ deprivation of freedom.

Yunusova, who had given a signed statement that she would not leave town during the investigation, was taken into custody in the courtroom.

(Major Krivolapov is the ‘Major from the Centre’ who conducted evictions ‘under Resolution No. 700’ between December and February, CCE 52.9-1.)

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The Trial of Bekirov, Usta, Khyrkhara and Beitullayev

The case was heard on 27 March in the Krasnogvardeisky district people’s court.

Lyutfi Bekirov (b. 1928), Izzet Usta (b. 1930), Seiran Khyrkhara (b. 1942) and Yakub Beitullayev (b. 1953) were charged under Article 188-1 pt. 2 (UkSSR Criminal Code). The first three are registered inhabitants of Nekrasovo village who came under the official labour recruitment system; the fourth lives in Simferopol, and is also a registered inhabitant. They were arrested on 3 February 1979 when the family of Sadyk Usta (Izzet’s brother and and Lyutfi’s father-in-law) was being evicted from Nekrasovo village (CCE 52.9-1). Bekirov was charged with hitting a policeman; furthermore, according to the prosecution, the accused resisted policemen in the car in which they were driven out of Nekrasovo.

During the pre-trial investigation Bekirov and Usta refused to testify. During the trial Bekirov testified that he had not hit the policeman but touched his shoulder as he was talking to him. All four pleaded not guilty. The sentences: L. Bekirov — four years, I. Usta and S. Khyrkhara — three years each, Ya. Beitullayev released from custody (it is not known whether he was acquitted or was given a punishment other than deprivation of freedom, for instance a suspended sentence).

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Before the investigation was completed relatives of the accused had engaged four lawyers from Moscow. The lawyers rang Simferopol on many occasions to find out when the investigation would be completed and whether it would be possible to study the case materials at the same time as their clients. They were not told. They were told the date of the trial only on 23 March, and as this was a Friday they had only half a working day to arrange their journey. However, the Presidium of the Moscow City Bar did not sanction their trip, telling them that the accused would fare even worse if lawyers from Moscow defended them.

The relatives learned of the date of the trial only the previous day, and were told only on the day of the trial that the lawyers would not be coming. Under these circumstances they agreed to the participation of lawyers from Dzhankoi in the proceedings,

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Lyutfi Bekirov has been active in the national movement since the 1960s, in December 1966 he was arrested for 15 days (together with Eldar Shabanov) as one of the organizers of the meeting in Bekabad to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Crimean A SSR.

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  • Lyutfi Bekirov’s address in the camps is: 287101, Vinnitsa Region, Strizhevka settlement, penal institution IV-301/81-21B;
  • Izzet Usta’s address is: 326244, Kherson, Gopry, Staraya Zburevka village, penal institution YuZ-17/76-19A;
  • Seiran Khyrkhara’s address is: Zaporozhe Region, Volnyansk, penal institution YaYa-310/20A-10 (V. Ovsienko is in the same camp, see ‘In the Prisons and Camps’).

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The Trial of Eldar Shabanov

On 4 May the Belogorsk district Court sentenced Eldar Shabanov under part 2 of Article 206 (UkSSR Criminal Code: “Malicious hooliganism”) to three years’ deprivation of freedom in strict-regime camps.

The charge was based on an incident in which Shabanov was involved at work on 22 March, Shabanov worked as a driver for a factory making construction materials and was driving workers to a quarry. On the day in question the mechanic Pavlov ordered him to make an extra trip. They argued — Shabanov maintained that he might not have enough petrol, as had happened previously, but went nevertheless. After the trip the quarrel restarted. Pavlov called Shabanov a lousy Tatar’, at which Shabanov swore back and pushed him off the bus.

On 27 March Shabanov was arrested. Sanction for the arrest was made official only after eight days. During this period Shabanov went on hunger-strike. His wife Zera went several times during these days to see the Procurator, Grechikhin, who told her that Eldar would be set free and in her presence even gave the relevant instruction to the investigator on the telephone. After a week of this, Z. Shabanova wrote a complaint about her husband being kept illegally in custody. The Chief of the Investigations Department, Fyodorov, replied that Shabanov was under arrest legally and that the sanction of the Procurator’s office had been received.

Investigator Lugovykh, who conducted Shabanov’s case, held a meeting at the factory at which M. Sergeyev was nominated as a factory representative to speak for the prosecution. In conversations with workers, however, Sergeyev maintained that he would be speaking for the defence.

The court hearing of 4 May was held in the office of the factory. Only at the very last minute was the place of the trial announced. The building was guarded by a large number of policemen and also KGB officials (in the break they drove the Judge away for lunch). About 60 people came into the room to attend the trial, some of whom were taken away during the break.

The case was heard with Judge Klochko presiding; the district Procurator Grechikhin was the prosecutor and the defence counsel was advocate V. A. German, According to the testimony of the ‘victim’, Shabanov swore at him, insulted him, shoved him and got putty on him. Shabanov’s question to Pavlov about his interrogation by Ilinov (the Chief of the Belogorsk KGB) was disallowed by the Judge, who said that there had been no such interrogation (Shabanov quoted the case sheet when he asked the question). Shabanov related at the trial that Pavlov had called him a ‘lousy Tatar’ and a ‘traitor’. He noted that Pavlov’s statement had only been written seven days after their quarrel (i.e. after his arrest).

Witnesses testified that they had seen putty on Pavlov’s moustache and had prior to this heard him and Shabanov arguing. Only one witness (previously he had told Zera that he had only heard a noise) stated that he had seen Shabanov pressing Pavlov against the bus and threatening him.

In his speech for the defence the lawyer said that Shabanov had been in the right in the quarrel with his superior, who had grievously insulted his national dignity. The lawyer asked the court to alter charge to simple ‘hooliganism’ (part 1 of Article 206) and to give a punishment other than deprivation of freedom.

In his final statement Shabanov tried to explain that he was being tried on a trumped-up charge. He described the search conducted at his home on 14 March and said that the confiscated materials were apparently not sufficient for a charge of circulating ‘deliberately false fabrications’. ‘Therefore’, he said, ‘the intention is that I am to be dealt with as a criminal’. At this point the court stood up and left, without letting Shabanov finish his final statement.

The victim Pavlov looked extremely depressed after the trial and said that he would never get over the experience.

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In 1944, when the Crimean Tatars were deported, Eldar Shabanov was four. His father was killed at the front.

In the 1960s, when he lived in Bekabad, he joined the Crimean Tatar movement. In 1966 he was arrested for organizing the meeting to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Crimean ASSR. At that time Article 190-3 was not in existence and he ‘got off’ with 15 days. When Shabanov and his family came to Belogorsk in February 1969 they experienced the usual harassments. In 1969 he was sentenced to two years’ banishment from the Crimea (CCE 31.4).

In 1972 he received a residence permit, Shabanov was under constant surveillance by the KGB (CCE 34.11, CCE 44.23, CCE 47.7). His wife, a Physics teacher, cannot get a job in her field (CCE 47.7). The Shabanovs have five children, the youngest being one year old.

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Shabanov’s address in the camps is: 264810, Volyn Region, Manevichi station, penal institution OV-302/42-54.

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On 12 July the Crimean Regional Court sentenced Mamedi Chobanov (b. 1944) under Article 187-1 (UkSSR Criminal Code = Article 190-1, RSFSR Code) to three years’ strict-regime camp.

This is Chobanov’s third conviction for his part in the national movement. In 1968 he was given three years on the false charge of ‘malicious hooliganism’ (CCE 7.7); in 1972, one year under Article 196 of the UkSSR Criminal Code (CCE 31.6). He has twice been warned, in 1975 (CCE 38.15) and in February 1979 (CCE 52.9-1) ‘according to the Decree’ [of December 1972].

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