KYIV/SIMFEROPOL. Feb 12 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has demanded that Russia should immediately release the 13 Crimean Tatars, who are citizens of Ukraine, and who the Ukrainian authorities believe were detained illegally.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in its statement, that "illegal searches and ungrounded detentions of 13 citizens from Ukraine, who are Crimean Tatars, took place on February 11 and 12, 2016."
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said these detentions are due to "the false fight against terrorism." "We demand that the Russian Federation immediately stop the political repression against citizens of Ukraine, and release Emir Usein Kuku, Vadim Siruk, Enver Bekirov, Eldar Selyamiyev, and Muslim Aliyev, who are being held illegally," the statement says.
On Thursday, the Crimean prosecutors told Interfax about the detention of four supporters of the party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia, who were active in the southern part of the peninsula.
Hizb ut-Tahrir el-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party) is recognized as terrorist and is banned in Russia.