Crimea

[Pagan]

How the Invasion of Ukraine Is Shaking Up the Global Crime Scene

 As Putin's "​little green men" were taking Crimea back in March, I was speaking with both cops and gangsters in Moscow who saw this as a great business opportunity—a chance for Russian gangs to move into new turf, make new alliances, and open up new trafficking routes.

They were thinking far too small. Already it has become clear that the conflict in Ukraine is having an impact on not just the regional but the global underworld. As one Interpol analyst told me, "What's happening in Ukraine now matters to criminals from Bogotá to Beijing."

Crime, especially organized crime, has been at the heart of the events in Ukraine from the start. Many of the burly and well-armed "self-defense volunteers" who came out on the streets alongside the not-officially-Russian troops turned out to be local gangsters, and the governing elite there have close, long-term relations with organized crime. Likewise, in eastern Ukraine, criminals have been sworn in as members of local militias and even risen to senior ranks, while the police, long known for their corruption, are fighting alongside them.

Now Ukraine is beginning to shape crime around the rest of the planet.

While it was only to be expected that Crimea and eastern Ukraine might be integrated even more closely into the Russian organized crime networks, it looks as though Ukraine's gangsters are perversely stepping up their cooperation with their Russian counterparts even while Kiev fights a Moscow-backed insurgency.

Just as the Kremlin was setting up its new administration in newly annexed Crimea, so, too, were the big Moscow-based crime networks sending their  smotryashchye—the term means a local overseer, but now also means, in effect, an ambassador—there to connect with local gangs. In part, they're interested in the opportunities for fraud and embezzlement of the massive inflow​ of federal development funds perhaps $4.5 billion thi​s year alone—and the newly-announced casino complexes to be built near the resort city of Yalta. They're also looking to the Black Sea smuggling routes and the opportunity to make the Crimean port of Sevastopol the next big smuggling hub.

These days, the Ukrainian port of Odessa is the  ​smugglers' haven of choice on the Black Sea. There's Afghan heroin coming through Russia and heading into Western Europe through Romania and Bulgaria, stolen cars coming north from Turkey, unlicensed Kalashnikovs heading into the Mediterranean, Moldovan women being trafficked into the Middle East, and a whole range of criminal commodities head out of Odessa Maritime Trade Port, along with its satellite facilities of Illichivsk and southern ports. Routes head both ways, though, and increasingly there is an inward flow of global illicit goods: Latin American cocaine (either for retransfer by sea or else to be trucked into Russia or Central Europe), women trafficked from Africa, even guns heading to the war zone.

The criminal authorities of Odessa, who have more than a nodding relationship with elements of the "upperworld" authorities, have done well on the back of this trade, charging a "tax" in return for letting their ports become nodes in the global criminal economy. But all of a sudden, they face potential competition in the form of Sevastopol. The Crimean port may currently be under embargo, but it has powerful potential advantages. The main criminal business through Odessa is on behalf, directly or indirectly, of the Russian networks; if they chose to switch their business, then perhaps two thirds of the city's smuggling would be lost. The Russian Black Sea Fleet is based in Sevastopol, and military supply convoys—which are exempt from regular police and customs checks—are a cheap and secure way to transport illicit goods. Finally, the links between the gangsters and local political leaders are at least as close in Crimea as in Odessa. So, if the criminals of Sevastopol can establish reliable shipping routes and are willing to match or undercut Odessa's rates, we could see a major realignment of regional smuggling.

 Why does it matter if the ships dock at Sevastopol rather than Odessa? Because if the former can offer lower transit costs and new routes, then not only does it mean the Crimeans can take over existing smuggling business, it also makes new ventures economically viable. For example, already, counterfeit cigarettes are being smuggled to northern Turkey, having been brought into Crimea on military supply ships. Perhaps most alarming are unconfirmed suggestions I have heard from Ukrainian intelligence services—admittedly hardly objective observers—that some oil illegally sold through Turkey by Islamic State militants in Syria might have been moved to Sevastopol's private Avlita docks for re-export.

The Ukraine conflict is also leading to increased organized crime in the rest of Ukraine proper. Protection racketeering, drug sales, even "raiding" (stealing property by presenting fake documents, backed by a bribed judge, thereby allegedly proving that the real owner signed away his rights or has unpaid debts) are all on the rise. To a large extent, this reflects a police force still in chaos (those who backed the old regime face charges and dismissal) and looming economic chaos. It is also a reflection of the country's endemic corruption: The international non-governmental organization Transparency International rank​s Ukraine 144 out of 177 countries in its Corruption Perception Index, and although the national parliament confirmed a new anti-corruption ​l​aw in October, it will take years to make a difference.

And this isn't just a Ukrainian problem. Preliminary reports from European police and customs bodies also suggest increased smuggling into Europe, and not just of Ukrainian commodities. Latin American cocaine, Afghan heroin, and even cars stolen in Scandinavia are being re-exported through Ukraine into Greece and the Balkans. According to my sources in Moscow, there is also an eastward route bringing illicit goods into Russia. In September, for example, the police broke a gunrunning​ ring that was spread across six regions of Russia and was caught in possession of 136 weapons, including a mortar and machine guns.

Most of this business again depends on the Russian crime networks. As a result, even ethnic Ukrainian criminals are now trying to forge closer strategic alliances with the Russians, even while their two countries are virtually at war. The Muscovites I spoke to on both sides of the law and order threshold pointed to such western Ukrainian nationalist strongholds as Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk as places where, suddenly, Russian gangster business is welcome. Of course, even as their gangsters are collaborating, Kiev and Moscow are scarcely talking—and any lingering police cooperation has essentially collapsed.

Where organized crime flourishes, so too do the shadowy financial businesses that launder their cash. Ukraine's financial sector is notoriously under-regulated and cozy with dubious customers, from the kleptocrats of the old elite (Prime Minister Yatsenyuk has claim​e​d that $37 billion disappeared from the state's coffers during former President Yanukovych's four-year reign) to organized criminals. Still, relatively little international money has traditionally flowed into and through Ukraine's banks, not least because other jurisdictions such as Cyprus, Latvia, and Israel offer equal opportunities with greater efficiency.

However, these other laundries are beginning to become less appealing, not least as countries clean up their acts under international pressure. So just at the time when the world's criminals are looking for new places to clean their ill-gotten gains, Ukraine's are both desperate for business—the country's economy is tanking,  having shrunk by 5 perc​net over the past year—and increasingly connected to the Russians, the global illegal service providers par excellence. Already, I understand that a US intelligence analysis has suggested that they will be used not only covertly to allow Crimea's embargoed businesses and gangs to move their money in and out, but also to offer up their laundering services to the world. And the world seems to be interested: According to a US Drug Enforcement Administration analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, in September, a sizeable payment for Nigerian methamphetamine bound for Malaysia actually passed through Ukrainian banks.

As the varangians—slang for gangs from Moscow and European Russia—become increasingly strongly entrenched there, working with an array of local criminals, they bind Ukraine all the more tightly with the global underworld. Ukraine has all the resources and facilities of a modern, industrial nation, like ports and banks, but not the capacity to secure and control them. This kind of potential black hole is a priceless asset for the world's gangsters.

Of course, there is one last way the Ukrainian conflict could have a wider criminal impact. If Kiev is finally able to defeat the rebellion in the east, then what do the gangsters who fought for the rebellion do? Some of the most powerful might be able to cut deals with the government or find refuge in Russia, but Moscow shows no signs of wanting to incorporate hundreds of disgruntled and impoverished gun-happy thugs. If what happened after the 1990s civil wars in the Balkans is a guide—and many analysts think it will be—then they will seek to head into Europe and North America. There, they are most likely to turn to criminal activities that draw on their skills and experiences. One French prosecutor I spoke to called them "the next Albanians," referring to the violent and dangerous gangs, especially from Kosovo, that flowed into Europe in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Europe in particular might find itself hard-pressed to respond. The Ukrainian authorities may well be willing to help, but they probably lack the ability to provide much usable intelligence. Meanwhile, the Russians, who probably have the best sense of who the fighters actually are, seem increasingly unlikely to provide any assistance. Jörg Ziercke, head of Germany's BKA, its equivalent of the FBI, recently complained that assistance from Moscow in dealing with Russian organized crime was drying up.

Forget tit-for-tat embargoes. One of the most effective responses to Western sanctions at the Kremlin's disposal may be to encourage the criminalization of Ukraine, and do nothing to help Europe and North America cope with the fallout.

http://www.vice.com/read/how-the-invasion-of-ukraine-is-shaking-up-the-global-crime-scene-1106

[1713997287]

1713997287

[1713997287]

1713997287

[1713997287]

1713997287

[1713997287]

1713997287

[1713997287]

1713997287

[Nemo1024]

An interview with Natalia Poklonskaja, where she talks about her fight with corruption in Crime, ethnic problems (or rather, lack thereof) and maidan:
http://www.aif.ru/society/people/1365045

"In those days, when the Republic of Crimea voted in favor of joining Russia and made its choice, E. Pomelov used this time for his own enrichment, thereby jeopardizing the reputation of power" - these words of Crimean prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya as she read out the text of the charges in city Yalta court last Friday.

Tatyana Kuznetsova, "AIF": Natalia, at the trial of E. Pomelov, former Assistant Attorney Yalta, accused of extortion and accepting bribes, you personally are acting prosecutor. Can we call this process as instructive?

Natalia Poklonskaya: This process should be a lesson for others - those who will do so, will also sit on the dock. Because today in Crimea people look with hope to the State and the new government, believe that the situation is changing, that the law enforcement system would finally protect the interests of the people. Pomelov passed the exam and confirmed his right to work in the Russian prosecutor's office, immediately, almost in broad daylight, in public, near the prosecutor's office he then received a bribe!

...

- I want to say that in the Crimea lived and still live peacefully more than 125 nationalities - Greeks, Tatars, Uzbeks, Russian, Ukrainians, Armenians, and others. And there are no and cannot be conflicts on ethnic grounds - there is no reason for them. And all who will exploit this issue will get tough resistance. My daughter studies in the classroom and the Armenians, and Russian and Tatars and Ukrainians. They do not divide each other on nationality, they have one common life - school.

By the way, when I announced the second warning to Chubarov,  just a week later I started to receive letters from the Crimean Tatar population with words of support and gratitude. It appeared that such false-leaders before everything was permitted anything, but nobody cared about ordinary people.

[Pagan]

ruSSia Delivers a New Shock to Crimean Business: Forced Nationalization



Business in Crimea has taken a beating since the peninsula’s annexation by Russia. Crimea’s tourism industry collapsed, and companies were cut off from vital suppliers and customers in Ukraine. Now comes the latest blow: nationalization.

From bakeries to shipyards, Crimea’s Kremlin-backed government is moving aggressively to take over businesses that it deems “inefficient,” strategically important, or friendly to the government in Kiev.

Krymkhleb, the peninsula’s biggest bread and confectionery maker, was nationalized on Nov. 12 by government authorities who accused its owners of laundering money to finance military operations against pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. A company that supplies flour to Krymkhleb also was taken over.

Also on Nov. 12, authorities seized a resort complex owned by the holding company of Serhiy Taruta, a Ukrainian oligarch who replaced the former pro-Russian governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region for several months earlier this year. Crimean authorities said the resort was seized because its management had illegally blocked public access to nearby park lands.

Another recent target was Zaliv, Crimea’s largest civilian shipbuilder. In late August, men describing themselves as Crimean “self-defense” forces stormed the company’s headquarters in the port of Kerch and demanded that management hand over control to a Moscow-based company. “Currently, representatives of the legitimate government of [Zaliv] are not allowed to perform their functions,” the company said in a statement on its website, adding that its activities have been “completely blocked.” No official reason was given for the seizure, but Russian authorities have said they want to overhaul Crimea’s shipbuilding industry.

“All enterprises on the peninsula that operate inefficiently, are on the verge of bankruptcy, or have been abandoned by their owners, will be nationalized.” Sergei Tsekov, a senator who represents Crimea in the Russian parliament in Moscow, told the Russian-language news service 15 Minutes on Nov. 13.

Crimea also has threatened to seize companies that it claims are in debt to Russian banks. One such case involves Crimean solar-power generating stations developed and operated by Activ Solar, an Austrian company. Sergey Aksyonov, Crimea’s recently elected prime minister, contends that Activ Solar owes $300 million to Russian banks. The company disputes that, saying it has no loan exposure to Russian institutions.

Russia moved swiftly after annexation to nationalize some Ukrainian state-owned enterprises, ranging from pipeline companies to health spas. It also took aim at  oligarchs such as Igor Kolomoyskiy, vocally pro-Kiev governor of Ukraine’s Dniepropetrovsk region. Kolomoyskiy’s Privat Bank closed its Crimean branches after the annexation, leaving depositors to seek compensation from Moscow. Besides taking depositors’ money, Crimean prime minister Kolomoyskiy has financed military operations against separatists in eastern Ukraine, Aksyonov told Crimea’s parliament in September, ITAR-Tass reported. “It is our moral right and our moral duty to carry out this nationalization,” he said.

Recent laws enacted by the parliament have expanded the government’s right to foreclose” on private property, and, according to one of the new laws, to seize assets considered to have “particular social, cultural, or historical value.”

In some cases, Crimean authorities have said they were seizing businesses at the behest of employees who were being cheated or mistreated by management. “Employees established control of the enterprise on their own,” Aksyonov said after the takeover of Krymkhleb. “We just helped them a little.”

Such measures are turning Crimea into a “neo-Bolshevik criminal dictatorship,” Russian opposition party Yabloko said in a statement this week on its website. “The action to legitimize robbery must be cancelled, stolen property returned to owners, losses reimburse

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-18/crimea-gets-renationalized

[Nemo1024]

Book of "History of Crimea" has been release, covering the span from Hellenic times, through the Tatar-Mongol Hordes, and its position in Russia since mid-1700s and to the present day.

http://ria.ru/crimea_today/20141119/1034152094.html

According to Medinskij, scientists and historians were horrified when seeing the history books, which were studied in Ukraine. "And soon after the reunification of the Crimea and Sevastopol (in March) with Russia there came the idea of writing a normal human history of the Crimea. This project in the shortest time was organized by historians. And the book that came out just a few months after the reunification of the Crimea with Russia, unexpectedly led to this week's sales ranking in many bookstores in Moscow and megacities "- said the Minister.

Not surprising. Ukrainian school books, for example, taught that the previous name of "Crimea" was "Ukrainian" and that it became "Krim" (as if translating as "To Rome") during the Romans, who, according to Ukrainians, usurped them. Well, Ukrainian history books also say that Homer was an ancient Ukrainian.

The main criticism to the book was that it does not sufficiently cover the contribution of the people of Crimea during the Ukrainian reign, when people actively resisted the forced Ukrainiasation of the polution.

[Balthazar]

New weapons licensing law is in power since 18 Nov 2014. This law allows Russian citizens to carry weapons for self-defence purposes. So, now crimeans are significantly more privileged kind of people in comparison with Ukrainian citizens.

[Nemo1024]

- State Duma pased today a law making Crimea into a free trade zone (http://www.interfax.ru/russia/408635).

- Car maker GAZ started producing cars in Crimea.

- Crimea received 750 million roubles towards improving the state of communal services.

- Biden said that USA (still) do not accept the free democratic choice of Crimeans.

[Pagan]

Ethnic raids in the Crimea



The occupation ‘authorities’ in the Crimea have now resorted to armed raids of markets and cafes in Simferopol with people obviously targeted because of ‘non-Slavonic appearance’.  An indicator that the measures are aimed at intimidation is seen in the fact that the raids are not being carried out by migration service officials but by men from the department for countering ‘extremism’

Raids were carried out at the central Simferopol market on Friday, Nov 21, with around 100 people detained.  This followed another such raid on the Tavria market in Simferopol on Nov 15.  On that occasion police without any explanation stopped over 60 people, and took fingerprints and DNA samples from them.

According to the Crimean Human Rights Field Mission men in camouflage gear stopped over 100 people during the Friday siege.  According to witnesses at least two of the people detained were beaten up.

The raid took place in three phases: at 9.00, then around 10.00 and the third from 12 to 1 in the afternoon.  The detentions were carried out by people in civilian clothes accompanied by armed men in masks and khaki clothing without insignia.  The men in plain clothes said that they were from the Russian Interior Ministry’s Department for Countering Extremism.  They did not offer a reason for their behaviour but were polite in ‘asking’ people to get into their bus.  When asked, they claimed that there was information about a bomb having been planted in the prosecutor’s offices and that they were detaining all those arousing suspicion until their identity was established.  Most of those detained were people visiting the market, though some were also vendors.  Of at least 100 people, only around 15 were ‘of Slavonic appearance’.

According to witnesses, the politeness stopped outside the bus, and two of those detained who had asked to go out to the toilet were handcuffed and beaten.

They were all taken to the ‘centre for countering extremism’ where they were photographed and their fingerprints and saliva samples for DNA were taken.

Those who had passports with them were released after a couple of hours, others had to wait for relatives or friends to bring their passports.

Many of those detained were asked to sign documents saying that they had no complaints against the police.  This is a standard document normally extracted while a person is still effectively under the control of police officers and therefore totally meaningless.

Emil Kurtbedinov told Radio Svoboda’s Crimean service that he was not being allowed in to see his clients, and he was adamant that there had been no grounds for any of the detentions which were based solely on whether they looked Slavonic or not.   He points out that photographing people, and taking fingerprints and DNA for no reason falls under the Russian criminal code, constituting as it does exceeding official powers.

According to the reports regarding Nov 15, all 60 or so people detained were clearly targeted because of their non-Slavonic appearance.  Some have apparently been charged with infringements of the rules for “stay in the Russian Federation”.

Judging by the account from one of the people detained on Nov 15, a Syrian who has clearly long lived in the Crimea, he and his family were fully in support of the pseudo ‘referendum’ effectively on Russia’s annexation of the Crimea.  He says that he “didn’t expect such an attitude to him, that it was a shock”.

Such an attitude was fully expected by the Crimea’s indigenous people, the Crimean Tatars, and it was one of the reasons why they were so against annexation.

It is significant that there have also been mass ‘checks’, otherwise known as raids, of cafés in Simferopol with the officers targeting both Turkish and Crimean Tatar cafés.   The officers were yet again from the so-called Department for Counting Extremism, though the assumption is that they were looking for illegal immigrants among visitors to the cafés.

Whatever the pretext, the behaviour is a gross infringement of people’s rights.  The involvement of officials supposedly concerned with countering ‘extremism’ is particularly ominous given the major offensive over recent months against Crimean Tatars.  A long list of gravely repressive measures have been accompanied by spurious references to Russia’s law against extremism.


Halya Coynash

http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1416613848

[BitMos]

there is something that I don't understand about crimea belonging to Russia because it was there that the Russian tribes converted to Christianity (in short(s) ), and then not knowing when Kiev was the capital of Russia then not , it leads to simplistic remark from an unkowner of the matter that crimea can't be compared to the temple mount for the reason that the Russians orthodox church is if I am not wrong too in Ukraine and so it's their crimea too, meaning that there is no "united front to reclaim the most holly place of the orthodox wing of Christianity"... just saying I have no idea . But if this fact is true, it means that a big line of the actual Russian line fall . which leads to the consideration that only others interests (concerning basic MIC needs) may be in play. So again no Love only more lutz  . How to say please in Russian... Because let's face it, you are standing in the Path of THE EMPIRE OF LOVE for one reason only, how to disengage and recycle when you invest? What's this craziness about Russia grandor? Do you need missiles, territorial annexing, and a sentiments of all out war everywhere to deflect unconventional attacks on Russia? You don't have the societal advancement to face such low complexity threat as a society and then want to play in the Empire world without any consideration for the fact that weapon are useless against the Empire, however if you have good ideas... there is nothing about Russians, only against bad ideas... and Russian leadership produces since long lot of them, and doesn't want to fully play the game of transparency and accountability for fear of losing confidence of Russian people, because it knows itself as not very presentable to be polite. The acuter your criticize of the Empire became the higher the expectation for Russia where level up until it was clear that it could be translated into only one man... mr puttin. Russia is putin for life? So sad, so little expression of Russia diversity. If Russian identity or soul was strong, Russia deepstate would not be afraid to be splitted in the fragmentation process coming. Because they would have known they all share common values based on common sense. Common sense has one tragic problem for the liars is that it impose the exposure of all details in simplicity which reduce highly the potential of scamming... or denial of reality. What Moscow does for Russian people A part spending money in missile on trains, on suitcase and co. The core problem is that Russia must play by covert and can't tell it's aim directly, which always further dissent, on the contrary the Imperial Position assures the capacity to tell the opponents what is going to happen, imposing time, space and mean in all spectrum (^tm) since a long time without interruption since inception. Why? Because a MIC for the MIC will always sucks, a MIC for LOVE...        .

the great vlad was scammed by a orthodox priest in moskow to unified legislatively all Russian orthodox speaking population (worldwide much lol) to reign over this large land territory to keep stature before the western wing? I mean at this point... what ever is possible. is Russian orthodox church much fragile? meaning can't it withstand fragmentation or simply decentralization? or what ever it's conquest mode on? People suffering or waging war are problematic for the EMPIRE OF LOVE goals. It could happen that a loved one be on a foreign soil... so much useless violence. Russia has difficulty to accept to work on home issue of own making and prefer to deflect on everything else and specially what is happening in America. If you believe that manage Imperial USMIC is difficult, it's because you don't have courage to tackle LOVE issues AMERICAN SIZE... much more complex, much more challenge, much more success, much more legacy... MIC have come, gone and will again and again or not when EMPIRE OF LOVE SUCCEED... But improving the condition of love relation, that's more cool and all Women can play too! under barbarians there are primates... not the good ones... and there in darkness they learned... who gave fire to Mankind.

edit: there is only one solution, to clone Putin. So that in every state occupation in Russia there is only putin clones. Finally the greatness of Russia restored according to putin's dreamcatcher.

[Nemo1024]

Crimean authorities will return to state ownership 160ha of land that were illegally given to Kiev and south-Ukrainian figureheads so as to be resold later.
http://realty.rambler.ru/news/v-krymu-nezakonno-prisvoili-160-gektarov-na-beregu-morya-354/?utm_source=news&utm_content=realty&utm_medium=midcolup&utm_campaign=cross_promo

[Pagan]

UEFA Bans Crimean Clubs From Russian League





NYON, Switzerland — Crimean clubs have been suspended by UEFA from playing in Russian domestic competitions.

"The Russian Football Union (RFU) may not organize any football competition in Crimea without the consent of UEFA and the Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU)," it said in a statement Thursday, adding that the ban would take effect on Jan. 1.

Gianni Infantino, secretary general of European football's ruling body, added that UEFA would fund development projects in the region in the meantime.

"This solution brings the situation into line with the statutes of UEFA and FIFA and ensures football can be played and developed in Crimea," he told reporters.

"It is not up to UEFA to determine any political situation, it is about football. The UEFA executive committee is interested that football can be played."

The RFU has included three Crimean clubs in the southern zone of its second division, the country's third tier, after renaming them TSK Simferopol, SKChF Sevastopol and Zhemchuzhina Yalta.

According to the regulations of world football's governing body FIFA, football leagues or clubs may only be affiliated by other associations and play on their territory in exceptional situations and with the consent of all sides.

Ukraine says Russia has no right to include the Crimean clubs in its leagues as the peninsula is officially regarded as an occupied territory and its separation has not been globally recognized.

Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula in March soon after Ukrainian protesters toppled pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych.

Infantino said a disciplinary case could be opened if UEFA's decision was not respected.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/uefa-bans-crimean-clubs-from-russian-league/512604.html

[Balthazar]

[Souldream]

Fresh pics from Simferopol.



"Obama is a scum!"



"Obama, you're stupid scum!"



"Launch missiles to New York"

Funny... because when a bunch of girls goes to a Church to sing ... that Poutine is Evil ...they goes to a work camp ... but here russians can keep stupid words with no respect ...

Sorry but i have never saw anywhere -> Poutine is what you want.... printed in Europe / USA or any country ...

Simply again a proof of weakness.... it proove only one thing ... the lack of culture of russian country ....

[cryptocoiner]

Ethnic raids in the Crimea



The occupation ‘authorities’ in the Crimea have now resorted to armed raids of markets and cafes in Simferopol with people obviously targeted because of ‘non-Slavonic appearance’.  An indicator that the measures are aimed at intimidation is seen in the fact that the raids are not being carried out by migration service officials but by men from the department for countering ‘extremism’

Raids were carried out at the central Simferopol market on Friday, Nov 21, with around 100 people detained.  This followed another such raid on the Tavria market in Simferopol on Nov 15.  On that occasion police without any explanation stopped over 60 people, and took fingerprints and DNA samples from them.

According to the Crimean Human Rights Field Mission men in camouflage gear stopped over 100 people during the Friday siege.  According to witnesses at least two of the people detained were beaten up.

The raid took place in three phases: at 9.00, then around 10.00 and the third from 12 to 1 in the afternoon.  The detentions were carried out by people in civilian clothes accompanied by armed men in masks and khaki clothing without insignia.  The men in plain clothes said that they were from the Russian Interior Ministry’s Department for Countering Extremism.  They did not offer a reason for their behaviour but were polite in ‘asking’ people to get into their bus.  When asked, they claimed that there was information about a bomb having been planted in the prosecutor’s offices and that they were detaining all those arousing suspicion until their identity was established.  Most of those detained were people visiting the market, though some were also vendors.  Of at least 100 people, only around 15 were ‘of Slavonic appearance’.

According to witnesses, the politeness stopped outside the bus, and two of those detained who had asked to go out to the toilet were handcuffed and beaten.

They were all taken to the ‘centre for countering extremism’ where they were photographed and their fingerprints and saliva samples for DNA were taken.

Those who had passports with them were released after a couple of hours, others had to wait for relatives or friends to bring their passports.

Many of those detained were asked to sign documents saying that they had no complaints against the police.  This is a standard document normally extracted while a person is still effectively under the control of police officers and therefore totally meaningless.

Emil Kurtbedinov told Radio Svoboda’s Crimean service that he was not being allowed in to see his clients, and he was adamant that there had been no grounds for any of the detentions which were based solely on whether they looked Slavonic or not.   He points out that photographing people, and taking fingerprints and DNA for no reason falls under the Russian criminal code, constituting as it does exceeding official powers.

According to the reports regarding Nov 15, all 60 or so people detained were clearly targeted because of their non-Slavonic appearance.  Some have apparently been charged with infringements of the rules for “stay in the Russian Federation”.

Judging by the account from one of the people detained on Nov 15, a Syrian who has clearly long lived in the Crimea, he and his family were fully in support of the pseudo ‘referendum’ effectively on Russia’s annexation of the Crimea.  He says that he “didn’t expect such an attitude to him, that it was a shock”.

Such an attitude was fully expected by the Crimea’s indigenous people, the Crimean Tatars, and it was one of the reasons why they were so against annexation.

It is significant that there have also been mass ‘checks’, otherwise known as raids, of cafés in Simferopol with the officers targeting both Turkish and Crimean Tatar cafés.   The officers were yet again from the so-called Department for Counting Extremism, though the assumption is that they were looking for illegal immigrants among visitors to the cafés.

Whatever the pretext, the behaviour is a gross infringement of people’s rights.  The involvement of officials supposedly concerned with countering ‘extremism’ is particularly ominous given the major offensive over recent months against Crimean Tatars.  A long list of gravely repressive measures have been accompanied by spurious references to Russia’s law against extremism.


Halya Coynash

http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1416613848

cockhole, pleaze...

[Nemo1024]

About Crimean Tatars - there is only 1% or less of Tatars that are bought off troublemakers. And they are making the most of the noise.


Russian Defence Ministry held today a direct Q&A session with the population of Crimea, as well as several other federal subjects.


It came to light that Russian air defence shot down one and landed another American UAV over Crimea:
http://ria.ru/defense_safety/20141208/1037191714.html

[cryptocoiner]

[Nemo1024]

Yatsenjuk plans to re-conquer Crimea by 2017.
http://top.rbc.ru/politics/11/12/2014/548995e92ae596f55efb3955

[Pagan]

Crimean Government Steps Up Property Confiscations

Around 4,000 businesses have had their property seized by government or private interests since Crimea was annexed by Russia.



http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/crimean-government-steps-up-property-confiscations/512734.html

[Nemo1024]

EU decided not to impose new sanctions against Crimea:
http://www.vz.ru/news/2014/12/15/720377.html
However, that will do so during the week, once they polish some technicalities. 

EU is actually acknowledging Crimea as a nation that made its decision, which is not compatible with EU/USA wishes.

[Balthazar]

...

[Nemo1024]

There was an assassination attempt on Polkonskaja today, second this year. This time it was prevented by Crimean people's militia:
http://riafan.ru/175765-kryimskie-druzhinniki-dvazhdyi-spasli-poklonskuyu-ot-pokusheniya/


An interesting personal experience. I met two acquaintances from Crimea, who currently live in England and Spain. Turns out they both went to Crimea this summer to change passport. What's more, they said the atmosphere there has become better with the disappearance of sabotaging of Russians. What with a more difficult situation in EU, they plan to return to Crimea next year.