A/HRC/40/CRP.3 detention for disseminating extremist symbols through a social network. 121 During a court hearing, the judge ignored the fact that the impugned content was posted five years ago – prior to the de facto implementation of the Russian legislation in Crimea 122 – and denied over 40 motions of his defense team, including the motion to ensure the presence of a prosecutor, to question an expert witness and recuse a presiding judge. 123 Kurbedinov was released on 11 December after serving his sentence in full. 103. OHCHR notes that Kurbedinov’s conviction follows a series of earlier incidents that indicate a pattern of deliberate intimidation, hindrance, harassment or interference by the Russian authorities in Crimea with his professional activities. In 2017, he was also prosecuted for social media posts.124 On 6 November 2018, police raided his office in Simferopol to serve him with a “formal warning” against engagement in extremism. OHCHR is concerned that this time, the extremism charges may be used to formally deprive Kurbedinov of his right to practice law in Crimea. On 18 December, the Ministry of Justice of Crimea requested a bar association in Simferopol to renounce Kurbedinov’s membership, which may lead to his disbarment. 104. Emil Kurbedinov’s case reflects the overall hostile attitude of Russian Federation authorities towards human rights defenders and civic activists. Lawyers, who take up defense in sensitive cases against individuals accused of extremism or terrorism in Crimea, risk facing similar charges themselves. OHCHR reiterates its findings on the pressure faced by members of Crimean Solidarity, a non-registered civic group cooperating closely with defense lawyers on the peninsula. 125 The law enforcement have disrupted the group’s meetings and issued formal warnings to Crimean Solidarity members not to engage in illegal activities, including unauthorized public gatherings and extremist acts.126 C. Freedoms of religion, opinion and expression 105. Consistent with previous OHCHR findings, the pattern of criminalization of affiliation to or sympathy towards religious Muslim groups, banned in the Russian Federation, continued to disproportionately affect Crimean Tatars. 106. On 24 December 2018, a military court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don found four Ukrainian citizens, all Crimean Tatar men previously transferred to the Russian Federation from Crimea, guilty of membership in a terrorist organization and preparation to commit a forcible seizure of power. One man received a 17-year prison sentence, while three others – 9 years of imprisonment each. The accusations were based on the defendants’ alleged membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic movement, which is legal in Ukraine but banned as a terrorist group in the Russian Federation. According to a court ruling, 127 the defendants were prosecuted for four meetings, during which they had discussed Islamic dogmas, Hizb ut-Tahrir ideology and sharia law. In a separate case, on 22 January 2019, the Supreme Court of Crimea found four Crimean residents guilty of membership in Tablighi Jamaat, another Islamic group banned in the Russian Federation. Three defendants received conditional sentences, while the fourth man was sentenced to four years of imprisonment. 128 In both cases, the defendants were found guilty based on their alleged membership in the 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 26 Judgment of the Kyivskyi district court of Simferopol, 7 December 2018, Case No. 5-1148/2018. This may be viewed as a violation of Article 70, Geneva Convention IV. OHCHR interview, 7 December 2018. Earlier, on 26 January 2017, Emil Kurbedinov was sentenced to ten days of administrative detention on similar charges, see OHCHR report on the human rights situation in Ukraine, 16 November 2016 15 February 2017, para. 128. OHCHR second thematic report “On the situation of human rights in the temporary occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine”, 13 September 2017 - 30 June 2018, para. 53. The police disrupted meetings of Crimean Solidarity on 27 January 2018 in Sudak and on 27 October 2018 in Simferopol. Judgment of the Severo-Kavkazskiy circuit military court of the Russian Federation, 24 December 2018, Case No. 1-42/2018. Judgment of the Supreme court of Crimea, 22 January 2019, Case No. 1-1/2019.