Today, we are telling the story of Crimean Tatar activist Medzhyt Abdurakhmanov, who was illegally sentenced to 12 years in a maximum security prison. He is to spend the first five years in prison.

Life before the detention

Medzhyt Abdurakhmanov was born on February 2, 1975, in the village of Nove Zhyttia in the Nyzhnochirchik region of Uzbekistan, where his family was deported from Crimea in 1944.

In 1982, he enrolled in the first grade of School No. 6 in the Serheliiskyi region of Tashkent. After finishing the 9th grade, he entered a college to study to become a gas and electric welder. After graduation, he only worked in his field briefly. He worked in a printing plant and later in a woodworking plant.

In 2007, together with his family, the political prisoner returned to Crimea, where he lived in the village of Strohanivka in the Simferopol region until his arrest. He worked at a construction site, installing windows and doors.

What did the occupiers come up with?

On March 27, 2019, Medzhyt was arrested on groundless charges after massive searches in the Kamianka and Strohanivka neighborhoods in Simferopol, during which the occupation administration detained dozens of Crimean Muslim Tatars. 

On May 12, 2022, a Rostov-on-Don “court” sentenced Medzhyt Abdurakhmanov to 12 years in a maximum security colony, including the first five years in prison.

Why was Medzhyt Abdurakhmanov actually detained?

Like many other Crimean Tatars, Medzhyt Abdurakhmanov was not indifferent to the fate of his people, to the illegal persecution of Crimean Tatars by the occupation administration on ethnic grounds. He was an activist of the Crimean Solidarity, regularly attended courts, searches, and held single pickets, for which he was fined 10,000 rubles and sentenced to 5 days of administrative arrest before being imprisoned.

Where is Medzhyt Abdurakhmanov now?

Since July 2023, it has been reported that Medzhyt Abdurakhmanov is being held in the T-0 prison in Balashov in the Saratov region, almost 1000 km from Crimea. 

His health continues to deteriorate rapidly. He suffers from chronic diseases such as stomach and duodenal ulcers, permanent displacement of spinal discs, and back pain. In the conditions of the Russian detention center, he developed frequent headaches and began to decay his teeth. Due to the extremely harsh conditions of detention, the occupation administration denies him proper medical care.

On August 28, 2024, the “Supreme Court” of the Russian Federation did not satisfy the cassation appeals against the verdict of the first instance and the decision of the Court of Appeal and upheld the political prisoner’s sentence.

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