This just in from RFE/RL's news desk:
Russia Suspends Crimean Tatar Mejlis For 'Extremist Activities'
The Russian Justice Ministry has suspended the Crimean Tatars' highest ruling body due to what it called "extremist activities," a fresh escalation in Moscow's crackdown against a group that has broadly opposed Russia's forcible annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula.
The ministry said in an April 18 statement that the Mejlis, the self-governing Crimean Tatar body legalized by the Ukrainian government in 1999, has been included in a list of civic and religious organizations suspended due to alleged extremism.
Tatars make up around 12 percent of Crimea's population of 2.5 million. Many fled the Black Sea peninsula after its military seizure by Russia in March 2014. Others who remained have complained of harassment or even disappearances under the Moscow-backed authorities there.
International rights groups and Western governments have issued searing criticism of Russia's treatment of the Turkic-speaking Muslim group since the annexation.
The ministry's action now prohibits the Mejlis from using state-owned media, holding public gatherings, participating in elections, and using bank accounts for anything other than paying off taxes, debts, or other financial penalties.