SIMFEROPOL, June 1. /TASS/. Crimea’s Supreme Court has sentenced the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, an extremist organization outlawed in Russia, to six years in prison and a fine for organizing mass riots in 2014.
"The court hereby declares Refat Abdurakhmanovich Chubarov guilty under Article 280.1 of the Russian Criminal Code and sentences him to six years in a general security penal colony, and to a 200,000-ruble ($2,700) fine under Article 280.1.2 of the Russian Criminal Code, as well as to 200 hours of community service under Article 280.1.1, stripping him of the right to serve as a public officer and have administrative and economic powers for one year," the judge said.
The defendant, an internationally wanted fugitive, was absent from the court hearings. According to investigators, on February 25, 2014, Chubarov ordered his deputy Ahtem Chiygoz to organize mass riots in front of the Crimean Supreme Council building in order to disrupt a meeting where a report by the government of the republic was to be considered. As a result, at least 80 Crimeans suffered injuries and two lost their lives.
In September 2017, Crimea’s Supreme Court sentenced Ahtem Chiygoz to eight years in a general security penal colony for organizing mass riots. A number of the organization’s members were convicted for participating in the mass riots.