Mejlis teenagers violated Russian flags in Crimea
Russian security forces have been searching the houses of Mejlis members in the villages of Crimea this morning on charges of desecration of the symbols of the Russian Federation.
“In the village of Kurskoye, Belogorsk district, massive searches are taking place among Crimean Tatars at four addresses at once. The search takes place among minors: Koki Mustafa, Abduveliev Umer, Seitkhalilov Ridvan, Asanov Seytumer. Another search has already been completed in the village of Kholodovka, Sudak district, near Aliyev Aziz-Mukhammed. He himself was not detained, nothing was confiscated. All five minors are suspected of removing the Russian flag from the Kursk village council and burning it at the end of June 2018. In connection with the incident, a criminal case was opened under Article 329 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on desecration of state symbols of Russia. Immediately after this, explanations were taken from all suspects. Today, Russian security forces conducted additional searches,” Anton Naumlyuk, correspondent for the liberal Novaya Gazeta, writes in his blog.
The pro-Ukrainian movement "Crimean Solidarity" offers a more favorable version for the teenagers: they allegedly didn't burn the flags, but only threw them away, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“It became known that earlier, in May 2018, minors, whose houses are now being searched, removed the flags of the Russian Federation from the administrative building of the village council and threw them out. Based on this fact, the investigative department opened a criminal case under Art. 329 CC. The sanction of this article provides for restriction of freedom, forced labor, arrest or imprisonment,” the statement says.
Mejlis teenagers desecrated Russian flags in Crimea.