Employess of the Center for Preventing Extremism of the Interior Ministry of Crimea (Center E) on Thursday arrested Emil Kurbedinov, the lawyer for Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, according to Interfax news agency, which received the information from Edem Semedlyaev.

"Center E has arrested Emil, and a search operation is underway in our [legal] office," the lawyer said.

Semedlyaev did not elaborate. Crimea's Interior Affairs office declined comment.

"Russian fascists on the morning on January 26, 2017 began conducting a series of arrests and searches involving Crimean Tatars. This morning they stormed the house of an activist of the Crimean Tatar Nationalist Movement Zodia Salieva, the house where she lives with the family of Seyran Saliev. Several dozen armed men dressed in camouflage and agents from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSS) first surrounded the house. They blocked exits from the residence and did not permit Seyran's pregnant wife from leaving, even though she was recently hospitalized in connection with the pregnancy," Mejlis Chairman and Verkhovna Rada deputy Refat Chubarov wrote on his Facebook page.

Chubarov said after searching the premises "agents took away Seyran Saliev, who had earlier been fined 20,000 Russian roubles for defending the owner of the Salachyk cafe in Bakhchysarai, Crimea on May 12, 2016.

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kurbedinov was "administratively detained" by Center E.

Russian lawyer Nikolai Polozov said on his Facebook page that Kurbedinov was brought to the FSS office and that Simferepol's Zheleznodorozhny district court would rule on pretrial confinement measures later on Thursday.