Server Zekir’yayev, a defendant of “Hizb-ut-Tahrir Case” Bakhchisarai Group II, sentenced to 13 years, is being tortured in the penal colony no 1, Tula Region, RF. This has been stated by the political prisoner’s spouse, Zarema Zekir’yayeva.
As written by the woman on her Facebook page, her husband’s detention conditions are unbearable and unliveable, almost the torture.
“He breathes strong emissions of gases from the general camp sewage system24 hours a day. He suffers most at night. It has become a routine that he does not sleep four days a week, his neck lymph nodes are aggressive, he suffocates due to the stench and lack of oxygen. He has been already exhausted, nervously and physically”, the political prisoner’s wife emphasized.
She mentioned that on June 11, 2024, Mr. Zekir’yayev refused to enter the cell and asked for normal conditions of detention. After such a request, according to his wife, a team of security men was called to him who began to threaten him that he would be thrown into the “house” by force.
“On July 9, 2024, he started shouting at the pitch of his voice “why are you torturing me”, but the employees shrug the shoulders and say: “we know nothing” or “prey, we can’t help you,” the woman said.
She pointed out that the husband could not go outdoors.
“To describe all these conditions, he makes a comparison to “gas chamber” where the prisoners are ready to hang themselves because of despair”, the political prisoner’s wife added.
She emphasized that had described the husband’s detention conditions in appeals to different bodies. She was responded that Server was okay, and the detention conditions were fully appropriate for staying there.
“I call on the world community to stop this genocide and repressions! While the persecution of the Crimean Tatars is being verbally discussed at the stands and meetings for decades, we risk losing our relatives every day. These are not just stories about arrests and captivity. Staying in prison is a struggle not only for health, but also for life. I call on everyone who is in solidarity with the Crimean Tatar people: journalists, human rights defenders, the ombudsman’s office, civil and human rights organizations to react in word and deed to such a blatant precedent,” the woman summed up.
The FSB is known to have detained six Crimean Tatars on October 11, 2017, in Bakhchisarai: Timur Ibragimov, Marlen (Suleyman) Asanov, Memet Belialov, Seyran Saliyev, Server Zekir’yayev and Ernes Ametov.
On September 16, 2020, the Southern Area Military Court in Rostov-na-Donu delivered the verdict to “Hizb-ut-Tahrir Case” Bakhchisarai Group II. The Crimean Tatars were sentenced to 13 to 19 years. Mr. Zekir’yayev was sentenced to 13 years. Now he is serving his sentence in the penal colony no 1, Tyla Region, Russia.
To remind: Persons involved in the “Case of Crimean Muslims”, most of whom are Crimean Tatars, are accused of membership in Islamic organizations or propaganda of actions of organizations declared terrorist or extremist in Russia though they do not have this status according to the Ukrainian laws. Cases are considered in violation of the right to a fair trial, the main evidence for the court is the testimony of anonymous witnesses (many of them are RF FSB men), pre-trial testimony of witnesses who later in court declare that such testimony was given under pressure, and linguistic examinations of accused Muslims’ conversations. The evidence provided by the defense is usually ignored by judges.
As of the end of June 2024, the number of Crimean residents deprived of liberty within the “Case of Crimean Muslims” reached at least 108 persons.
