Graty journalist, human rights activist Lutfiye Zudiyeva has received a notice from the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Crimea summoning her for drawing up an administrative protocol, reports Crimean Solidarity, citing the journalist.
Zudiyeva is being charged with violating the law on “foreign agents” (Part 1, Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). She was asked to come to the Ministry of Justice on August 27.
“I will pay the Ministry a visit, review the material and learn the formal grounds for the administrative protocol. I am not sure that my presence will significantly affect the final decision, but it is important for me to remain open, explain my position and act within the law,” commented Lutfiye Zudiyeva.
According to the journalist, the decision to declare her a “foreign agent”, adopted on May 16, 2025, had to do with her reporting on the trials against political prisoners in Crimea for the Ukrainian independent news website Graty, as well as with her interviews to international media and human rights organizations (CNN, Newsweek, Committee to Protect Journalists, etc.). In these interviews, she spoke out about the persecution of activists, journalists, lawyers, and religious figures on the peninsula. Moreover, the Russian Ministry of Justice claims that Zudiyeva is a member of the human rights organization Front Line Defenders. The journalist is challenging her inclusion in the foreign agents register in court.
Persecution of journalist Lurfiye Zudieva
On February 22, 2024, officers of Russia’s Center for Combating Extremism searched Lutfiye Zudieva’s house. After the search, she was taken away to the counter-extremism center, but later released.
The police opened an administrative case against her under Parts 2 and 2.1 of Art. 13.15 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (abuse of freedom of mass information). The investigation was triggered by her Facebook post about the unlawful persecution of alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir members, as she did not mention that Hizb ut-Tahrir is considered a terrorist organization by Russia, and also cited a Radio Liberty article without noting that the media outlet is considered a “foreign agent” by Russian law.
In March 2024, the Russia-controlled Kyiv District Court in Simferopol fined the human rights activist and journalist Lutfiye Zudieva 2,500 rubles (UAH 1,000). Roman Filatov of the Russian Counter-Extremism Center (CEC) charged her with “abuse of freedom of mass information.”
According to Zudieva, the judgement was issued without her participation and the court did not review the written objections of the defense. She believes that she is not an offender and as a natural person was not obliged to comply with the requirements, and that the head of the Crimean CEC department Ruslan Shambazov essentially treated her personal Facebook page as a registered media outlet.
In April 2024, a Russian court in Crimea fined the Crimean Tatar human rights activist and citizen journalist Lutfiye Zudieva, finding her guilty of “abusing the freedom of mass information.
On May 7, 2024 Crimean human rights activist, journalist Lutfiye Zudieva was handed a warning from the Russian Center for Combating Extremism.
In June 2024, he Russia-controlled Kyiv District Court of Simferopol considered the appeal against the verdict fining the human rights activist and journalist Lutfiye Zudieva and upheld the ruling to impose an administrative penalty on her.
