Of note, in September, the International Renaissance Foundation launched the EU4Usociety Programme -- a four-year project funded by the EU to strengthen 'the involvement, sustainability, capacity, relevance and influence of Ukrainian civil society in addressing urgent domestic, regional and global challenges'. Similar projects were launched in other countries in the region.
Awful news that Crimean Tatar Server Mustafayev has been sentenced to fourteen years in a strict-regime correctional colony.
— Janek Lasocki (@JanekLasocki) September 23, 2020
He is recognised as a prisoner of conscience by @amnesty Intl & political prisoner @hrc_memorial #CrimeanTatars #Crimeahttps://t.co/lyhTsAzgH6
Association
On 16 September, a court in the Russian Federation sentenced seven Crimean Tatars to up to 19 years in prison. The individuals are accused of being members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group, which is an illegal entity in Russia, including in Russian-occupied Crimea, but the group remains legal in Ukraine.
According to reports, those sentenced include: Marlen Asanov -- 19 years of maximum security prison; Memet Belyalov -- 18 years; Tymur Ibragimov -- 17 years; Seyran Saliev -- 16 years; Server Mustafayev -- 14 years; and Server Zekeryaev and Edem Smailov -- 13 years.
In response to the court sentence, several international organisations issued a statement calling for their immediate release:
"We resolutely condemn the persecution of Muslims and of Crimean Tatar activists in occupied Crimea based on fake accusations".
Against a media blackout, around 200 miners in Kryvyi Rih - hometown of @ZelenskyyUa - have now spent nearly 2 weeks underground, protesting for better wages and conditions.
— oDR (@opendemocracyru) September 17, 2020
Alina Stamenko went and spoke to their colleagues and relatives. https://t.co/H5GOXJjkG6
Peaceful Assembly
From July to September, a number of protests and strikes by workers in Ukraine's mining industry took place. The protesters called for higher wages and the right to an early retirement, given the unhealthy conditions in which they work. The strikes included miners from Zhovtneva, Batkivshchyna, Ternivska and Hvardiyska coal mines.
In July, in particular, hundreds of miners protested in the capital Kyiv, demanding that coal mine operations be resumed and wage disputes be settled. The independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine (NPGU) mobilised members from private and state-owned coal mines across Ukraine in these actions.
Ukraine’s disgrace: two decades later, who ordered the murder of Georgi Gongadze still unresolved. The Implementors were convicted but those who ordered it at the highest level remain above the law. https://t.co/9NsmgECa1U
— Taras Kuzio 🇬🇧🇮🇪🇪🇺🇺🇦 (@TarasKuzio) September 20, 2020
Expression
2020 marks 20 years after the murder of well-known Ukrainian investigative journalist Georgi Gongadze, which remains under much speculation and not fully solved. On the anniversary of his death, US Embassy in Kyiv called for justice in the case and in other cases of journalists murdered with impunity. In an address, US diplomates stated that:
"Today we remember Georgy Gongadze, a brave journalist who was killed for seeking the truth. No member of the press should be threatened, attacked or arrested for doing his job, and crimes against journalists should be thoroughly and promptly investigated so that those responsible are held accountable. Independent media are an important part of successful democracies".