A Russian court illegally sentenced political prisoner Ernest Seitosmanov to 18 years in a maximum security colony on charges of allegedly “organizing the activities of a terrorist organization”.

On February 9, around 4 am, the occupation forces conducted searches in Bakhchisaray district, Balaklava, Simferopol and Belogorsk, after which they detained Ansar Osmanov, Ametkhan Abdulvapov, Marlen Mustafayev and Ernest Seitosmanov. It was the fourth illegal search for the latter. Prior to that, Mr. Ernest had been repeatedly intimidated by the FSB – a few months before his illegal detention, he had already been detained, tortured, strangled and mocked.

Activists, friends and relatives of the political prisoner came to Rostov-on-Don from the occupied Crimea to hear the criminal verdict. Ernest Seytosmanov attended the trials of Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea and in Rostov, helped the families of political prisoners, and participated in public initiatives.

In addition, in 2019, the occupiers sentenced his brother, Enver Seytosmanov, to 17 years in a maximum security prison on the same “charge”.