On the border with Crimea, members of the Mejlis held a rally in support of the person accused of transporting weapons
In Novooleksiivka, Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, on the border with Russian Crimea, several dozen members of the Mejlis, a body banned in Russia, held a rally in support of Edem Bekirov, a member of the organization who was detained while attempting to enter the peninsula on charges of illegally transporting ammunition from Ukraine.
Those gathered unfurled posters in English: “Freedom for Edem Bekirov,” “Help save a life,” “Freedom for Ukrainian political prisoners,” etc.
The speakers claimed that Bekirov was not guilty, but was going to Crimea to visit his mother who remained there.
The prisoner’s wife, a Ukrainian official who heads the local administration (which obviously helped bring pensioners with printed posters in front of TV cameras in bad weather), insisted that he, as a disabled person, should not be kept in custody.
One of the speakers went the furthest, introducing himself as a local resident and “ATO volunteer” - he announced that, supposedly, the Crimean Bridge is being destroyed, so Russia itself will destroy it, but will blame the Mejlis members for this, and, supposedly, Bekirov’s arrest is confirmation of this.