Watchdog

The Russian Prosecutor-General's Office has declared the Ukrainian-registered nongovernmental organization Free Idel-Ural, which seeks to protect the rights of indigenous ethnic groups in the Volga region, as "undesirable."

The Prosecutor-General's Office announced its decision on February 18, saying the group is Ukrainian because it is registered in Kyiv and that it "poses a danger to the Russian Federation's constitutional order and security."

Free Idel-Ural was established by exiled activists from the Volga region. It says on its website that it represents the interests of the native ethnic groups in the Russian republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, Mordovia, Chuvashia, and Mari El.

In recent years, Russia has been ratcheting up pressure on activists and groups involved in promoting more autonomy for the country's many ethnic groups.

It has banned more than a dozen foreign groups under legislation against "undesirable organizations," adopted in 2015. Under the law, groups are typically first labelled "undesirable" and then formally banned by the Justice Ministry.

In 2020, well-known Bashkir activist Airat Dilmukhametov, who had called for creating "a real federation" that encompasses all ethnic groups in Russia, was sentenced to nine years in prison on "extremism" charges that he and his supporters have called politically motivated.

The same year, the Supreme Court of Russia's Bashkortostan region labeled as "extremist" and banned the prominent Bashqort group, which for years promoted the Bashkir language and culture, as well as equal rights for ethnic Bashkirs.

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine -- Crimean Tatar activist Edem Dudakov has been sentenced to 10 days in jail in Russia-annexed Crimea on a charge of inciting interethnic hatred, which he rejects.

The Bakhchysaray district court sentenced Dudakov on February 18, a day after he was detained and his home searched by officers from Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).

Dudakov pleaded not guilty and said he will appeal the ruling.

The charge against Dudakov stemmed from a social media post he made in 2017 over a lawsuit filed by a mother who was upset her child had to learn Tatar in school.

Police detained 15 people from several dozen who came to the courthouse on February 18 to show their support for Dudakov, a leading member of the Congress (Kurultai) of the Crimean Tatars, who in recent months has been actively raising the issue of the decrepit condition of the historic building of Hansaray (Khan's Palace).

The palace, built in the 16th century, was home to a succession of Crimean Khans and is one of the best known Muslim palaces in Europe, alongside the Sultan palaces of Istanbul and the Alhambra in Spain.

Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 was vocally opposed by many Crimean Tatars, who are a sizable minority in the region.

Exiled from their homeland to Central Asia by Soviet authorities under the dictatorship of Josef Stalin during World War II, many Crimean Tatars are very wary of Russia and Moscow's rule.

On February 17, Ukrainian Ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova condemned Dudakov's detainment, calling it "another act of persecution and intimidation of Crimean Tatars" by Russia's occupying authorities.