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«Recalling the Trials of the Past we Must be Wise to the Present,» – Veterans ща Crimean Tatar National Movement
17 April 2012
On April 16, 2012 the veterans of the Crimean Tatar National Movement, Mustafa Jemilev’s relatives and friends, representatives of Crimean Tatar public organizations gathered in Mejlis office to hold the warm meeting, timed to the 36th anniversary of the Omsk trial.
At that day Mustafa Jemilev’s guests were: his brother Asan Jemilev, sisters Vasfiye Khairova and Gulizar Abdullaeva as well as the old and young team-mates on the national movement such as veterans Zampira Asanova, Vejiye Kashka, Ayder Zeytullaev,Remzi Ablaev, Ediye Jemileva, Arsen Alchikov, Rolan Islyamov, Mambet Useinov, Saliha Seydametova, Velor Saranaev, Zodie Salieva, Sinaver Kadyrov, Zevdzhet Kurtumerov, Ali Hamzin, acting Head of the Revision Commission of Qurultay of the 5th convocation Kurtseit Abdullaev, Fadime Sherfe Mambetova, Ferasultan Muradosylova, member of the Board of the League of Crimean Tatar Women Zarema Halikova, Director General of the Charitable Organization “Foundation “Crimea” Riza Shevkiev, writer Uriye Edemova and many others.
Annually, the participants of the meeting share their memories about one of the loudest court trials against the famous Soviet human rights advocate and dissident, fighter for the rights of his people, present Leader of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, MP of Ukraine Mustafa Jemilev.
As reported the trial, initiated by the Soviet regime against Mustafa Jemilev in Omsk back in 1976, made this far away Siberian city a world famous center of the severe combat between good and evil forces. On one side there was Mustafa Jemilev, representing the democratic forces in the Soviet state and solidary international democratic community. On the other side there were forces that embodied the principles and dogmas of the misanthropic ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Empire.
The guests didn’t hide their tears, recalling April 1976 and Mustafa Jemilev’s condition who went to the hunger strike that lasted 303 days. “The Crimean Tatar people is proud with its leader and his great courage and his standing principles in his fight for the rights and freedom of his people,” – veterans of the Crimean Tatar national movement and participants of the meeting said.
Vesfiye Khairova, Vedzhiye Kashka, Remzi Ablaev, Mustafa Jemilev’s elder brother told about the interesting moments from the court trial against Mustafa Jemilev. Asan Jemilev recalled the visit of the human rights advocate, academician Sakharov with his wife Elena Bonner to the Omsk trial.
The Leader of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Jemilev, expressed his gratitude to all his guests that came to mark the 36th anniversary of one of the court trials against him and noted that during the long years of his imprisonment the great support of his people, activists of Crimean Tatar national movement, international community, representatives of the democratic forces, human rights advocates and dissidents of the USSR were a high moral stimulus for survival and combating for justice for his people.
Reference:
Omsktrial in 1976 was one of the most resonant court trials against the participant of the human rights advocacy movement in the USSR. The trial once again demonstrated the severe realties of the totalitarian time. Now one could definitely say that the unprecedented hunger strike before the beginning of the trial didn’t broke 33-years-old Mustafa Jemilev. At that time the fighter for the Crimean Tatar people was supported by such famous human rights advocates and dissidents as Peter Grigorenko, Andrei Sakharov, Russian writers Lev Kopelev, Lidiya Chukovskaya, Alexander Galich, famous German writers Heinrich Bölland Karl Ameri. There was a broad campaign in defense and saving his life, publications and radio-broadcasts, telling about him and situation with Crimean Tatars in the USSR.
The authorities didn’t even guess that the trial and the events, related to the hunger strike and Omsk trial would become the powerful factor that gave the Crimean Tatar national issue the international resonance. Many foreign radio-stations such as BBC, radio of Germany made reports, telling that today is the 50th, 60th, etc day of M.Jemilev’s hunger strike and naturally, these reports also told about the reasons of the hunger strike, about the failure to solve the Crimean Tatar issue in the USSR, about the deportation and their goals.
The Omsk trial also had the important internal meaning. It became the symbol of high spirit, firm believes in the rightness of one’s ideas and actions. This trial set an example of how a single person could not only give an appropriate resistance, but at a price of one’s health and threat to one’s life attack the seemingly impregnable walls of hypocritical ideological positions.
