PART 4 A YEAR AFTER: MAIN VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CRIMEA th This prohibition extended to holding the demonstration on May 18 to mark the 70 anniversary of deportation of the Crimean Tatars, held by the Crimean Tatars each year, consequently deprived them of the opportunity to hold a peaceful assembly to be seen and heard by the target audience. A year later, in 2015, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars was again denied the holding of a traditional mourning demonstration – this time, due to the fact that all availa- ble venues in the city were occupied (see below). Civic groups in Sevastopol regularly face denials to hold public events. Thus, the day before February 20, 2015 (anniversary of the start of the occupation of Crimea), the Head of the Internal Policy Department of the “Sevastopol government” Yevgeny Dubovik requested to stop publishing the notiR cations of holding mass events on February 20 through 23. “... Once again I say to all, so that you understand: from 20 through 23 [Feb- ruary], no events, except for the city events, will take place, so the commu- nity activists and political parties should stand still”. Yevgeny Dubovik, Crimea News, February 21, 2015 However, the meeting on Antimaidan coordinated with the authorities was held in Sevastopol on February 21, 2015. Persecution of the organizers and participants of peaceful assemblies On May 3, 2014, in Crimea (Armyansk), a peaceful assembly of the Crimean Tatars in support of the leader of the Crimean Tatars, MP Mustafa Dzhemilev, who was denied entry to Crimea by the Russian border guards was held. The assembly was attended by several thousand Crimean Tatars, and thereafter the Crimean Prosecutor Natalia Poklonskaya submitted a Decree to the Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service of the RF for “criminal prosecution of the oT enders”. They were charged with rioting, use of violence against the repre- sentatives of authority and unlawful crossing of the state border. However, the par- ticipants did not use violence during the peaceful assembly. A week later, the par- ticipants of the assembly began to receive subpoenas. As a result, about 200 people were R ned in the amount from 10 to 40 thousand rubles based on administrative articles of “unsanctioned rally” and disobedience to police. This was followed by a number of searches in the homes of participants of the ‘May rd’ peaceful assembly. In October 2014, the arrests commenced. A total of 4 persons 3 112