The defendants in the case are accused of participating in a rally that took place on February 26, 2014 under the building of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea in Simferopol. The rally took place before the illegal annexation of Crimea and the actual extension of the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation to the territory of Crimea. Such harassment is also an application of retrospective legislation. On February 26, 2014, a rally of the Russian Unity party with pro-Russian slogans was also held near the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea. The persecution of only the pro-Ukrainian rally participants suggests that this case is politically motivated and initiated with the aim of persecuting those who opposed the occupation of Crimea. Crimean “judges” regularly made unfounded decisions to extend the terms of detention, grossly violating the right to liberty and the right to a fair trial.
