Media outlets identified as being pro-Ukrainian are increasingly under threat. The chief editor of the Crimean Tatar newspaper Avdet was summoned on 24 July by the Crimean FSB and informed that a complaint had been lodged against the newspaper by a media monitoring body, the Russian Federal Service for the Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor). The complaint relates to the publication of information about the decision of the Mejlis to boycott elections in Crimea scheduled for September 2014. A similar complaint has been made against another Crimean Tatar newspaper, Qirim. Since March 2014, no Ukrainian TV channels have been broadcast in Crimea and they were switched off by the Crimean cable operators as of 1 July. Human rights organisations159 report that freedom of expression; in particular freedom of the media is being restricted in Crimea. Reportedly, journalists perceived to be pro-Ukrainian are not allowed to attend official events of the Crimean authorities; according to a Crimean journalist from the Chernomorskaya TV Company, they are not allowed in since they are not on the list of so–called “approved journalists”. Journalists as well as ordinary Crimean residents are at risk to incur criminal responsibility due to the recent Russian legislation concerning extremism and separatism.160 Priests and followers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) continued to report of harassment. For example, on 21 July, a house in the village of Mramornoye (near Simferopol), which was the property of the UOC-KP, was burnt to the ground. A church and buildings, also belonging to the UOC-KP and located on the same land plot, were not damaged. In June, this church had been robbed. Four out of 12 churches of the UOC-KP have closed161 since the March “referendum”. The situation of four people, including Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who were detained in Crimea in May 2014 and later transferred to a FSB detention facility in Moscow, remains unchanged. All are accused of terrorism charges, which two of them deny. The others two reportedly were forced to plead guilty to the charge. The Ukrainian Embassy in the Russian Federation was informed of their arrest two weeks after they were detained but representatives of the Ukrainian Consular Office have not been allowed to meet with them under the pretext that the detained men were now citizens of the Russian Federation, which the detainees deny and try to litigate. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers them to be political prisoners. Their lawyers have had difficulties accessing their clients. Oleg Sentsov complained of having been tortured during his detention in Crimea. His defence lawyer in Moscow was not permitted to take any written statement from his client or to meet him without the presence of FSB officials. Visitors of the FSB detention facility, including defence lawyers, must sign a declaration of non-disclosure of information obtained during the visit prior to seeing the inmates. On 15 July, the Russian Ombudsperson declared that Mr. Sentsov should not be held in the same cell as inmates who had earlier served several custodial sentences. 159 Media lawyer of the Ukrainian NGO Regional Press Development Institute mentioned violations and restrictions in his interview to Hromadske Radio on 8 August; representatives of the Crimean Human Rights Field Mission mentioned this during a press conference on 4 August 160 On 22 July, the President of the Russian Federation signed into law (№ 274-ФЗ dd. 21.07.2014 “On amendments to article 280-1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation”) provisions that increase the punishment for public calls for separatism, including on the Internet. The maximum punishment is imprisonment of up to four years; on 30 July, the President of the Russian Federation signed a law (N 179-FL dd. 28.07.2014 “On amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation”) that introduces prison sentences for public calls for extremism, or attempts to humiliate people. This applies to internet posts as well as mass media publications. The maximum punishment for this felony is imprisonment of up to five years. 161 Two churches were located on the territory of the Ukrainian military units and were sieged by pro-Russians paramilitary and the other 2 were closed due to administrative pressure. 224 | P a g e