Russian police have searched the house of a detained deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis.
Mejlis chairman Refat Chubarov told reporters in Kyiv that police searched Ahtem Ciygoz's house in the Crimean city of Bakhchysaray on January 30.
Chubarov condemned the January 29 arrest of his colleague and called the activities of Russian authorities in Crimea -- which was annexed by Moscow in March -- "lawless."
On January 29, a Simferopol court sent Ciygoz to pretrial detention until
February 19.
Russian officials said Ciygoz is suspected of organizing deadly mass disorder in front of the Crimean parliament when Crimean Tatars and other pro-Ukrainian activists clashed with pro-Russian demonstrators on February 26, 2014.
Since Russia's March annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, activists, community leaders, and rights groups have said Crimean Tatars have faced discrimination, pressure, and abuse.
