Two ethnic Tatars in Russia-controlled Crimea have been detained and charged with extremist propaganda.
Both Enver Krosh, from the northern city of Dzhankoy, and Ebazer Islyamov, from the peninsula's northwestern Nyzhnyohirskyy District, were arrested on January 25 after their homes were raided by police, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) said.
Read alsoRussian security forces raid Crimean Tatars' two houses in Simferopol, seize religious literaturePolice seized a mobile phone, laptop, and a tablet from Krosh's home, according to local human rights group Crimean Solidarity. Krosh was brought to the Dzhankoy District Court and charged with propagating extremist symbols and organizations.
Islyamov was brought to the Nyzhnyohirskyy District Court, where an ambulance was called after he felt unwell. Local activists say that Islyamov also faces the charge of propagating extremist symbols and organizations.
No further details were immediately available.
Both Krosh and Islyamov are practicing Muslims.
Rights groups and Western governments have repeatedly denounced what they called a persistent campaign targeting Crimea's indigenous people – the Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatars, the majority of whom opposed Moscow's annexation of the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in March 2014.
