PART 3 THE AFTERMATHS OF THE OCCUPATION: A POLITICAL REPRESSIONS SYSTEM • Illegal searches and seizures (the case of public activist Liza Bogutskaya accused of disseminating on the Internet information inciting ethnic hatred, searches of homes of journalists Lily Burjurova, Elzara Islyamova, the mother of the Stanislav Krasnov prosecuted for ‘extremist activity’); • Illegal detentions (the case of Viktor Neganov and Sergey Korniyenko detained for taking part in a peaceful assembly on the occasion of Ukrainian Independence Day, numerous detentions of activists of the Ukrainian Cultural Center Veldar Shukurdzhiev, Leonid Kuzmin and others for participation in peaceful assemblies); • Beatings (the case of Abduraman Egiz, member of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, beaten up for refusing to present his passport to the representatives of the so-called ‘Crimean self-defense’, attack on Leonid Kuzmin, the organizer of the meeting to mark the birthday of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko); • Illegal interrogations and so-called ‘preventive conversations’ that have become a common practice on the peninsula. It is important to note the changes to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federa- tion, legally deR ning a new crime: ‘public incitement to separatism’. Changes took eT ect on May 9, 2014. Today, anyone calling things by their proper names, that is, talking about the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, may get sentenced up to 4 years in prison. The climate of fear and impunity prevailing in the peninsula can be best illustrated by the following announcement attached to the doors of residential houses: “Al- though peace has been established in our land, there still are scums who want chaos, disorder, and war. They live among us, go to the same shops as we do, ride with us in public trans- port. You may know the people who were against the return of Crimea to the Russian Federation or took part in the regional ‘Maidan’. Such personal- ities should be reported immediately Pictured: Kurtseit Abdullaev at the protest in to the FSB at: 13, Franko Boulevard, Simferopol on March 9, 2015 Simferopol, or by phone: 37-42-76 (an- 16 onymity guaranteed) .” 16 http://sockraina.com/news/8571 44