Chubarov received a sentence in absentia: He squeals, scares Russians and fears liquidation
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea sentenced the leader of the Mejlis banned in Russia, ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Refat Chubarov to six years in prison in a general regime correctional colony. He was also given a fine of 200 thousand rubles and 200 hours of community service.
This was reported by the extremist’s lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Chubarov's support group near the court
Journalists near the court
Previously, the prosecutor requested nine years in prison for Chubarov. Today's decision was made by a panel of judges in absentia, because Chubarov is on the territory of Ukraine. He was tried in the case of mass riots that occurred on February 25, 2014 near the building of the Supreme Council of Crimea. Then the Mejlis members disrupted the session where they were planning to vote for a referendum. The clashes resulted in the death of two people. About 80 more participants in the clashes were injured. The next day, the parliament of the republic was taken under the protection of “polite people.”
“I have no doubts: this Protasevich was caught by chance - not by chance, what difference does it make? There was a hero, waving his arms, calling on everyone. Before we even had time to arrive, he had already confessed to everything... Chubarov is the same character who, while abroad, calls for something, incites, and so on,” commented the head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov.
Crimean political scientist Sergei Kiselyov believes that Chubarov himself chose the path of extremism, although in 2014 Russia offered cooperation to the Mejlis members.
“Unfortunately, Refat Chubarov, this man who could be useful to his people and participate in the process of their economic, spiritual, cultural revival, chose the confrontational path. Therefore, it does not matter much what term he was sentenced to - what matters is that the person himself determined his fate. Instead of being useful to the people, he turned into a criminal thanks to his actions,” Kiselev told PolitNavigator.
" It's not a specific sentence that's at issue here, but the precedent itself. The fact that we have a precedent today regarding the punishment of Refat Chubarov for the crimes he committed, organized, and was responsible for—the very fact of this court decision is, in my view, important in ensuring that our legislation doesn't forget the 'heroes' who fight for the 'deoccupation of Crimea.' This, to a certain extent, also serves as a warning to anyone who continues to engage in such activities ," added political scientist Alexander Formanchuk, Chairman of the Public Chamber of Crimea.
Chubarov himself promptly published a prepared statement in Ukrainian on his blog.
The “sentence” handed down to me by the Russian occupation court is legally insignificant, and those who were involved in its initiation, execution and publication are in fact criminals who will face a fair punishment ahead... Know that the Russian occupiers will flee from Crimea, hundreds will flee thousands of Russian citizens who today, like barbarians, are fussily snatching up our land, and we will all embrace again in our homeland,” Chubarov threatens.
He assured that Russia is not able to implement the verdict. At the same time, Chubarov himself admitted that in Moscow “they can develop a special operation for physical liquidation, in carrying out which Putin has surpassed all dictators in the world.”
Interestingly, the extremist himself previously admitted that he had recently had a prophetic dream about being arrested in Simferopol.
According to Chubarov, he had a dream that, despite his impressive size (obviously achieved with the help of grants), he was riding a bicycle around Simferopol and became a victim of an “informer.”
“I rode a bicycle for a long time along the streets of ancient Akmeszhit/Simferopol. Many recognized and greeted. Out of the corner of my eye I saw one man in a gray jacket rush to a telephone booth (yes, a telephone booth), put a coin into the machine and began speaking into the receiver, covering his mouth with his hand. Passers-by began to disperse. And although no one explained anything, it became clear to me that Russian police scum would soon arrive. I woke up..." Chubarov wrote.
As a reminder, in July 2014, upon returning from Ukraine to Crimea, Chubarov was given a warning about extremist activity and banned from entering Russia. In March 2020, the Russian Investigative Committee for Crimea and Sevastopol opened a criminal case against Chubarov, who had announced a provocative action—a march to breach the border into the peninsula. Chubarov subsequently canceled the march, citing the pandemic.
Chubarov sentenced in absentia : Screaming, frightening Russians, and fearing liquidation