The Crimean Tatar Mejlis, which is not registered in Russia, is engaged in anti-Russian activity in favor of the West, Crimean Prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya has said.

"The Mejlis' entire activity and ideology is built on just one thing: fighting against Russia," she said on Tuesday, at the Crimean Supreme Court, which is hearing the regional prosecutor's lawsuit seeking a ban on Mejlis as an extremist organization.

Mejlis leaders and members are "puppets in the hands of big Western puppeteers," she said.

"They only need the Mejlis to incite discord, hatred and animosity," Poklonskaya said.

The Mejlis uses the Crimean Tatar people as a "bargaining chip," she said.

She urged the court to declare the Mejlis as an extremist organization and ban its activity.

Meanwhile, lawyer Jemil Temishev, who represents the defendant, said that a court ruling in favor of the plaintiff will hurt Russian interests, and give its opponents a reason to speak of human rights abuse in the country.

"A satisfaction granted to this administrative lawsuit will definitely strengthen the positions of anti-Russian politicians, public figures and statesmen. This lawsuit in these phrasings will not only fail to protect the interests of certain citizens, the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation, its economic security – the decision to ban the Mejlis will be aimed against Russia itself," Temishev told the court.

The prosecutors' grievances are aimed at specific politicians, in particular, the head of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov, who is also a member of Ukrainian parliament, and the president of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars, and has resided in Kyiv for several years now, the defense lawyer said.

Chubarov will make a number of statements on his behalf, without a decision by the collegial body that is Mejlis, the lawyer said.

"This is an attempt to neutralize some political figures," Temishev said of the lawsuit.

Nariman Jelyalov, the first deputy chairman of Mejlis, continued to insist in court that the Mejlis is a representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, not a public organization as prosecutors claim.

He also said that the Mejlis has international operations and has representative offices beyond Crimea, which is why the lawsuit must be heard by the Russian Supreme Court, not Crimean.

Jelyalov dismissed the extremism charges against the Mejlis.

Both the defendant and the lawyer urged the court to reject the lawsuit, recalling that a potential ban has already caused a negative reaction from the international community.

The Mejlis is a non-registered Russian organization, which claims to be a representative body of Crimean Tatars. It consists of 33 members.

Its current and former leaders – Chubarov and Mustafa Jemilev – currently live in Kyiv. Crimean prosecutors consider them to be involved in the energy blockade of Crimea, and have opened a number of inquiries against them.

Crimea has a population of 1.9 million, of which 10-13% are Crimean Tatars.