The Russian police visited Graty journalist and human rights activist Lutfiye Zudiyeva in her home in Canköy (Crimea) on 15 May, Zudiyeva told Crimean Solidarity.
The police warned her of potential liability for holding “unauthorized rallies” on the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide on 18 May.
An officer with Russia’s Canköy Police Department had a “preventive conversation” with Zudiyeva, claiming to be acting on behalf of the Russian Interior Ministry and the Center for Countering Extremism “in order to prevent offenses and crimes of a terrorist or extremist nature.”
Lutfiye Zudiyeva, who was required to sign the document, left a note stating that she disagreed with the warning, had not endangered, and did not plan to endanger public security.
“Meetings with officers of various law enforcement agencies have become more consistent in recent years: now for one reason, now for another,” Zudiyeva said.
The Russian police also visited the human rights activist Mumine Saliyeva in Bağçasaray and Lilia Gemeci in Crimea’s Simferopol district, issuing similar warnings.
Crimean Solidarity reports that Russian police officers annualy hand out warnings to Crimean Tatar public figures, activists, and human rights defenders ahead of 18 May.
Persecution of journalist Lutfiye Zudiyeva
In May 2025, the Russian Ministry of Justice added Zudiyeva to the “foreign agents” register. In a comment to IMI, Zudiyeva said that the news had not been unexpected to her as someone working to defend the people in Crimea.
In August 2025, Lutfiye Zudiyeva received a notice from the Russian Ministry of Justice summoning her for drawing up an administrative protocol. Zudiyeva was charged with violating the law on “foreign agents” (Part 1, Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).
In September 2025, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow upheld the decision by the Russian Ministry of Justice to declare Lutfiye Zudiyeva a “foreign agent.”
On 22 February 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 on charges of 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 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.”
In April 2024, a Russian court in Crimea fined Lutfiye Zudieva again, finding her guilty of “abusing the freedom of mass information.”
On 7 May 2024, Lutfiye Zudieva was handed a warning from the Russian Center for Combating Extremism.
In June 2024, the Russia-controlled Kyiv District Court of Simferopol tried Zudiyeva’s appeal and upheld the ruling to impose an administrative penalty on her.
In April 2026, the General Jurisdiction Cassation Court No. 2 in Moscow (Russia) dismissed a motion by Lutfiye Zudiyeva, who challenged her inclusion in the Russian “foreign agents” register.