The title of Hero of Ukraine was awarded by President Vladimir Zelensky to an outstanding political and public figure, one of the leaders of the Crimean Tatar movement, human rights activist and people’s deputy of Ukraine Mustafa Dzhemilev, who turned 80 today.

The press service of the head of state reported this.

Zelensky met with Dzhemilev and personally presented him with the Order of the Power.

The title was awarded “for outstanding personal contribution to the formation and development of the independent Ukrainian state, courage and dedication in defending the rights of the Crimean Tatar people, many years of fruitful political and social activity.”

The leader of the Crimean Tatar people said that it was an honor for him to receive the highest award, because in two years of a full-scale war it is given to soldiers who, at the cost of their lives, defend the freedom, territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine.

“Under these circumstances, this award means a lot to me. This is at the same time great moral support for our compatriots, who have been under occupation for ten years now,” he noted. 

Mustafa Dzhemilev (Crimea: Mustafa Abdülcemil oğlu Cemilev) – human rights activist, one of the founders of the Crimean Tatar national movement, dissident and political prisoner of the occupying Soviet regime. Spent more than 15 years in prison, three years in exile.

He was the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people in 1991-2013, a people’s deputy of Ukraine for seven convocations.

In 2019, he was elected as a people’s deputy of the 9th convocation from the European Solidarity party. Member of the Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories in the Donetsk, Lugansk Regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, national minorities and interethnic relations.

In 2020, Dzhemilev became an honorary professor at the Odessa State University of Internal Affairs.
DEATH TO THE RUSSIAN OCCUPANTS!

(C)DUMSKAYA.NET 2023