Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/640911
ByNataliyaVasilyeva The Associated Press UROZHAYNE, CRIMEA El- nara Asanova lives alone with her four small chil- dren because her husband, an ethnic Tatar, is in jail. Last April, when she was seven months pregnant, police grabbed him from the streets of their village because he had taken part in a Tatar protest against Russian annexation of Crimea. She's not allowed to visit him, so she travels to ev- ery court hearing. Once she took 7-month-old Mus- tafa, so her husband could glimpse the child as he was led from the police van to the courtroom. The court has refused to release him on bail, describing him as a flight risk. "They say he will run away. But where to?" said Elnara, a meek young woman. She points to her children. "We live in the country. You can't survive here without a husband." Two years after Rus- sia seized Crimea from Ukraine, President Vladi- mir Putin touts the move as a historic achievement, looking on with a satis- fied smile from count- less billboards across the peninsula. However, overwhelming opposi- tion from the Muslim Ta- tar ethnic minority puts a crack in this picture of unanimous support, as ev- idenced in interviews with more than two dozen Ta- tars across Crimea. And the resistance appears to be growing. Many described the in- timidation of community leaders, the closure of Ta- tar language classes and a general atmosphere of mis- trust of Tatar residents. The Associated Press con- ducted some interviews at other people's homes be- cause of worries about po- lice surveillance. The majority of the peo- ple in Crimea are ethnic Russian and support Rus- sia's annexation. The nearly 300,000 Crimean Tatars, who make up less than 15 percent of the population, are Muslims, although largely secular. Community leaders say repression has left young people fuming, risking their radicalization along the lines of the restive North Caucasus, a patch- work of predominantly Muslim republics in south- ern Russia. Tatar activists are al- ready fighting back. Before Russia annexed Crimea,LenurIslyamovwas a businessman with fam- ily and assets in Moscow. Last fall, he traded his busi- ness suits for military-style clothing to lead a resistance movement that imposed a blockadeonthepeninsulain retaliationforRussia'sperse- cution of the Tatars. In September, the ac- tivists began stopping goods from crossing into Crimea. Three months later, the Ukrainian gov- ernment stepped in and banned all trade. "Everyone, including Ukraine, left us with no other choice," said Isly- amov, whose assets in Mos- cow and Crimea have been seized. "Most of us don't want to go to war — we want to make sandwiches, take our children to school, go shopping — but we've been forced to do this." Deliberate power out- ages have also become widespread. In November, unknown attackers blew up electricity pylons in Ukraine and tied Crimean Tatar flags to them, leaving 2 million people without heating. No one claimed responsibility for the ex- plosions, but Tatar activ- ists were suspected. Tatars in Crimea cheered the power cuts, saying the blackout returned the world's attention to the sit- uation in Crimea. Muzafar Fukala, community leader of the village of Voinka, said losing light was "noth- ing" compared to the hard- ships Tatars had survived in the past. "I'm prepared to live in a complete blackout until this scum leaves," he said, referring to supporters of the annexation. To avoid police harassment, Fu- kala spoke to the AP in the home of friends in a neigh- boring village. Both the border block- ade and the power out- ages have put a big hole in the Kremlin budget at a time when plummeting oil prices have left Mos- cow with little to spare on shoring up its newest ac- quisition. Russia had to fly in supplies and thousands of generators, and speed up the construction of under- water power lines. ETHNIC GROUP Tatars step up resistance to Russian rule over Crimea SERGEIGRITS—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A woman walks with her dog past a graffiti depicting the Russia and Crimean flags on the outskirts of Simferopol, Crimea. EDUARDO VERDUGO — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he leaves a er celebrating Mass in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, on Monday. By Nicole Winfield and Sonia Perez D. The Associated Press SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CA- SAS, MEXICO Pope Francis denounced the centuries- old exploitation and social exclusion of Mexico's Indi- ans on Monday, saying the world should instead ask their forgiveness and learn from their culture and ap- preciation of nature. Francis celebrated the Indians during a visit to the southern state of Chi- apas, a center of indige- nous culture. He presided over a Mass in three native languages in a service that also featured a traditional dance of prayer and a cele- bration of married deacons in Chiapas, whose role has been revived under his pa- pacy. In his homily, history's first Latin American pope melded two of his core con- cerns:appreciationforindig- enous cultures and the need to care for the environment. "We can no longer remain silentbeforeoneofthegreat- est environmental crises in world history," he told the crowd of several thousand indigenous people, some in traditional dress, who gath- ered under clear blue skies at a sports complex in the mountain city of San Cris- tobal de las Casas. "In this regard, you have much to teach us." The soft sounds of ma- rimbas accompanied the Mass, which was celebrated in front of a replica of the brilliant yellow and red fa- cade of the San Cristobal cathedral, where Francis visited later in the day. Crowds chanted "Long live the pope of the poor!" and "Welcome, pope of the struggle!" as he arrived. Some 500,000 faithful were expected to see the pope in the city, including about 100,000 who gathered on the dirt field for the Mass. Francis issued a sweep- ing apology last year for the Catholic Church's colonial- era crimes against Amer- ica's indigenous. He revis- ited the issue again Mon- day, denouncing how, "in a systematic and organized way," indigenous people have been misunderstood and excluded from society over the course of history. "Some have considered your values, culture and tra- ditions to be inferior," he said. "Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends,havestolenyourlands or contaminated them." He called for a collective "Forgive me." Pope blasts exploitation of indigenous people MEXICO By Josef Federman The Associated Press JERUSALEM Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday began a 19-month prison sentence for brib- ery and obstruction of jus- tice, defiantly proclaiming his innocence in a farewell video as he became the first Israeli premier to be placed behind bars. His imprisonment capped a stunning fall from grace that ended Is- rael's last serious round of peace efforts with the Pales- tinians and ushered in the era of Benjamin Netanyahu, a hardliner widely criticized in the region and around the world. Olmert checked into the Maasiyahu prison in central Israel early Monday, hours after releasing the three and a half-minute video. It shows a sullen and weary- looking Olmert alluding to his peace efforts with the Palestinians, express- ing "pride and satisfac- tion" with his political ca- reer and acknowledging he made mistakes. "Youcanimaginehowthis changeispainfulandstrange for me, for my family, my loved ones and supporters," he said. "It is important for me to say again, as I said in- side the court and outside it, that I absolutely reject out- right all the corruption alle- gations against me." 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