SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- The Russian-controlled Supreme Court in Crimea has sentenced the owner of the ATR Crimean Tatar television channel, Lenur Islyamov, to 19 years in prison in absentia.
The court in the Russia-annexed Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula found Islyamov guilty on December 10 of organizing sabotage, creating an illegal armed group, and publicly calling for Russia's territorial integrity to be violated. He was sentenced the same day.
Islyamov's lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, told RFE/RL that his client does not recognize the court's legitimacy.
"My client considers Crimea a temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and therefore considers all institutions of the occupying authorities to be illegal and he does not recognize their jurisdiction," Polozov said, adding that the court's ruling will be appealed.
Investigators in Crimea claim that Islyamov was one of the organizers of the Noman Chelebidzhikhan battalion of Crimean Tatar volunteers that operates in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region bordering the Crimean peninsula.
Islyamov, who has resided in Kyiv since 2015, told RFE/RL earlier that he would not take part in the trial, and rejected the charges against him while calling the judicial process a mockery of justice.
The occupying Russian authorities have refused to issue a broadcasting license to Islyamov's ATR television channel after annexing Crimea in early 2014.
In June 2015, ATR resumed broadcasting from Kyiv via satellite throughout Ukraine, including in Crimea.
Rights groups and Western governments have repeatedly denounced what they call a persistent campaign targeting Crimea's indigenous people -- the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatars, the majority of whom opposed Moscow's annexation of their homeland.
Prominent Crimean Tatar Gets 19-Year Prison Sentence In Absentia
Related
Editors' Picks
Top Trending
1
Losing Syria Is A 'Huge Slap In The Face' For Russia
2How Russia Is Spinning Its Syria Debacle, And Why
3How Assad's Fall Threatens Russia's Military Influence In Syria -- And Across The Region
4Trump Says Russia, Iran In 'Weakened State,' Calls On Putin To Make Ukraine Deal
5The Wasteland: Shocking New Images From Russian-Occupied Maryinka
6Russia Says Syria's Assad Granted Asylum In Moscow
7Ukraine Live Briefing: Russia Targets Clinic, Cafe
8Photo Exclusive: The Soviet-Designed Nuclear Shelters Hidden In Prague's Subway
9Georgian Pro-EU Protesters On Streets Again After Violent Government Crackdown
10Georgescu, Supporters Protest Outside Bucharest Polling Station After Runoff Scrapped
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.