PART 4 A YEAR AFTER: MAIN VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CRIMEA March 9 − The Anniversary of the Birth of the Ukrainian Writer Taras Shevchenko On March 9, 2015, a group of Ukrainian activists organized a meeting in Yuri Gagarin st Park of Simferopol on the occasion of the 201 anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko, the famous Ukrainian writer. The event was agreed with local authori- ties. The participants of March 9 meeting used the Ukrainian symbols, including the U ag of Ukraine and the inscription ‘Crimea is Ukraine’. During the peaceful meeting, the representatives of the law enforcement author- ities detained three activists, Leonid Kuzmin, Aleksandr Kravchenko and Veldar Shukurdzhiev. The detainees were taken to the police station, where the reports on the violation were drawn up. On March 12, 2015, the trial of the three activists was held. All three were found guilty of violating the order of holding meetings, rallies, demonstrations, march- es, and pickets. The reason for this decision was that the participants used the Ukrainian U ag and the words ‘Crimea is Ukraine’. The court considered these as the symbols of extremist organizations and extremist materials. All three were award- ed an administrative penalty in the form of 40 hours of compulsory community services. All three pleaded not guilty in the court. They were confident that the court unfoundedly and incorrectly applied the rules of the RF law ‘On Countering Extremist Activity’, namely the norm prohibiting the participation of extremist organizations in mass events, the use of their symbols or attributes, as well as extremist materials. As the Ukrainian flag is an internationally recognized at- tribute of the state, it cannot be regarded as a symbol or an attribute of an ex- tremist organization or as an extremist material on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, for the activists, it was not quite the end of it with the trial. Leonid Kuzmin, who worked as a school teacher in Simferopol, was R red from his post by the school administration for ‘inaptitude for the occupied position’. He was R red for being the organizer of this event. At the school he was told that ‘an employee of the school has no right to participate in political activity’. Aleksandr Kravchenko was forced to leave the territory of Crimea. Later, on March 30, the court of Simferopol found Kurtsei Abdullaev, another partic- ipant of March 9 event, guilty and sentenced to 20 hours of compulsory community services. The reason again was the use of Ukrainian U ag and the inscription ‘Crimea is Ukraine’. 120