For Nuremberg-2.0 against Russia, international community unity needed – Dzhelyal

This was stated by former prisoner in Russia and Deputy Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Nariman Dzhelyal, in a comment to Ukrinform during his visit to New York, where he, along with other former captives, spoke before members of the UN Security Council.

“In the international system of relations, the UN is tasked with resolving military conflicts. None of us are so naive as to not understand how difficult it is today to force a country that disregards international law – Russia – to peace through international diplomatic mechanisms. But we understand that we must use every opportunity to stop the enemy,” said Dzhelyal.

According to him, even if the UN or another international organization does not have the mechanism to influence Russia today, “there will come a time when Russia will be held accountable for its crimes.”

“We must work toward this outcome starting today, so that there is unity in the international community at the future Nuremberg-2.0 trial,” he noted.

Dzhelyal also emphasized the importance of debunking Russia’s lies about supposedly complying with all international norms regarding the detention of prisoners.

In his opinion, apart from the Russian delegation, the rest of the participants at the Security Council meeting, where Russia’s violations of international humanitarian law were discussed, expressed absolute support for Ukraine, including China. “Everyone understands how important it is to save our people who are currently in captivity,” Dzhelyal added. “Although not all countries want to hear this uncomfortable truth. Because when they hear something like this, they must react. And they are not always ready for such a reaction.”

He also mentioned that Ukrainian civilians held in Russian prisons “are mostly not carriers of any military or state secrets.”

“They were simply detained, falsely accused of crimes they did not commit, and are being tortured,” noted the former captive.

According to him, over 60,000 of our fellow citizens are being held in Russian prisons – mostly civilians.

There is no information regarding the whereabouts of many of them. They are often kept in basements, tortured without official charges being brought against them, Dzhelyal pointed out.

As reported by Ukrinform, three former captives, Valerii Horishnyi, Nariman Dzhelyal, and Maksym Butkevych, shared their experiences of being held in Russian prisons at the UN and called on the members of the UN Security Council to make every effort to free the Ukrainian citizens unlawfully detained in Russia.