Today, 24 May 2024, searches were carried out in the houses of members of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile Rafis and Nafis Kashapovs.
At 7 a.m., Russian security forces consisting of 4 people with witnesses burst into each of them at their registration address and conducted a search. The basis was the criminal case “On the public justification of terrorism” initiated against Rafis and Nafis Kashapov, committed using the Internet (Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) for discussing and “positive assessment” in a video broadcast of attacks by Ukrainian drones on the Alabuga SEZ “and the oil refinery “TANECO”.
The wife of Rafis Kashapov, Nurzia Khanim Kashapova, and the wife of Nafis Kashapov, Izalia Khanim Kashapova, were taken away by Russian security forces for interrogation. All electronic equipment, computers and mobile devices, and personal documents, were confiscated from them.
The main questions that interested the Russian security forces were: Do they maintain contact with their husbands and hold the same socio-political views regarding Russia? There were also clear questions about other relatives of Rafis and Nafis Kashapovs living in Tatarstan. Therefore, searches of other relatives of famous political figures, the Kashapov brothers, are quite likely.
Also, today a search was conducted at the representative of the Azatlyk Tatar Youth Union Rafik Karimullin. He, Tatar activists Zinnur Agliullin, Damir Shaikhetdinov and Rifat Badretdinov were interrogated. The reason for the detention and interrogation was Ukrainian UAV strikes on the Alabuga SEZ.
Thus, intensifying repressions against members of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile and their close relatives suggests that their activities abroad pose a danger to the existing Russian regime, and the presence of active figures in the Tatar national movement directly in the Republic of Tatarstan poses a real threat to the activation anti-Russian movements within Russia.
These searches and interrogations are unfounded and politically motivated, their purpose is only to put pressure on politicians and activists of the entire Tatar national movement.
Press service of the Government of Independent Tatarstan in exile
