At least nine people have been detained in the Russia-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea for demonstrating in defense of Crimean Tatars, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Lawyer Emil Kurbedinov said on October 14 that more than 100 people had staged one-person protests across Crimea earlier in the day and that at least nine had been detained, even though one-person protests do not require advance permission, RFE/RL reported.
Russian authorities in Crimea declined to comment on the detentions.
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Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they call a persistent campaign of oppression targeting members of the indigenous Turkic-speaking Crimean Tatar minority and other citizens who opposed Moscow's annexation.
The majority of Crimean Tatars opposed Russia's 2014 annexation of their historic homeland.