Appaz Kurtamet, a Crimean Tatar, was sentenced to 7 years in custody on charges of “financing an armed formation”.
As informed by CRIMEAN DISCOURSE Project, “Kievskiy District Court of Simferopol” (“judge” Oksana Karchevskaya) sentenced Mr.Appaz Kurtamet abducted in July 2022 at the administrative boundary with Kherson Region, to 7 years in the maximum security regime penal colony, with serving the first year in prison.
To remind: Mr.Appaz Kurtamet, a 20-year-old Crimean Tatar, a teacher of the Crimean Tatar language from the village of Novooleksiyivka, Kherson Region. On July 23, 2022, he left Novooleksiyivka for Crimea to visit his relatives. His contact with the relatives was lost at CHONGAR Checkpoint. For almost three months there was no information about his whereabouts and a legal status. There was also no information on the reason for detention and charges made.
Mr.Kurtamet was charged with committing a crime under Article 208-1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (financing of an armed formation). According to the prosecution, “Kurtamet, being aware of the illegal activities of the CRIMEA Islamic battalion, transferred 500 hryvnias to the representative of the battalion.”
At the session of March 29, the “prosecutor” asked for 10 years’ sentence. The defence pointed out that Mr.Kurtamet had not financed the illegal activities, he had just lent UAH500 to an acquaintance. Therefore, the defence insists on closing the case due to the lack of components of crime.
