Today, we are highlighting the story of Crimean Tatar activist Tofik Abdulhaziiev, who covered in the media the occupiers’ crimes in Crimea. For civil activism, he was sentenced to serve 12 years in a strict regime prison. During the past six months, the political prisoner’s health has suddenly deteriorated due to inadequate conditions of detention in a Russian prison. Ukrainian human rights activists appeal for the release of the political prisoner.
Life before the detention
Tofik Abdulhaziiev was born on June 19, 1982, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where his family was deported in 1944. At the age of 7, he entered a public school in Samarkand.
Tofik Abdulhaziiev was born on June 19, 1982, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where his family was deported in 1944. At the age of 7, he entered the first grade of a Samarkand secondary school. After completing the 8th grade, he entered a technical college to become a car mechanic, receiving a diploma as a gas mechanic in 1999. At the age of 18, Tofik returned to Crimea.
After the first arrests in Crimea, Tofik began organizing events for the children of Crimean political prisoners.
What have the occupiers come up with?
On May 4, 2017, the occupiers searched Tofik’s house, after which he remained free.
On March 27, 2019, the most massive searches of Crimean Tatars’ homes in recent years took place in occupied Crimea, with 23 people detained in a few hours, including Tofik Abdulhaziiev.
In May 2022, after a lengthy trial, a Russian court sentenced Tofik Abdulhaziiev to 12 years in a maximum-security prison, including the first five years in jail and a year of restriction of liberty after his release.
What was the actual reason for Tofik Abdulhaziiev’s detention?
Like many other Crimean Tatars in Crimea, he became a target of persecution by the occupation administration.
After the first arrests in Crimea, Tofik began organizing events for the children of Crimean political prisoners. He was an activist of the Crimean Solidarity public association, a sound engineer, and a member of the Crimean Childhood project. Tofik was involved in delivering food to prisoners in pre-trial detention centers, attending courts in politically motivated cases, and supporting his fellow citizens during searches in their homes.
Where is Tofik Abdulhaziiev now?
A year later, in May 2023, a Russian court considered Tofik’s defense’s appeal against the verdict but upheld the court’s first-instance decision.
In July, the occupiers illegally transferred Tofik Abdulhaziiev to a prison in Verkhnouralsk, Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation.
On March 22, Tofik, who had lost 38 kilograms in prison, was taken out of the jail in Verkhnouralsk, the Cheliabinsk region, in critical condition. He was placed in prison hospital No. 3 in Cheliabinsk, where he was admitted to intensive care two weeks later.
Doctors diagnosed the political prisoner with tuberculosis and several other diseases: bilateral pneumonia, small left-sided hydrothorax, moderate anemia, connective tissue dysplasia syndrome with mitral valve disease (heart disease), chronic heart failure, chronic gastritis, and nephrolithiasis.
“There are no special changes in his health. The transfer of normal food is still an acute problem in the ‘we send—they don’t accept’ mode…,” said his wife, Aliie Kurtametova.
On July 8 this year, a court in Cheliabinsk was to consider another lawsuit filed by the lawyer regarding the release of Tofik Abdulhaziiev from prison due to his health condition. However, the hearing was postponed until August.
Tofik Abdulhaziiev’s opinion on the situation in occupied Crimea
Since the occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, the lives of Ukrainian citizens, including indigenous people, on the peninsula have been subjected to consistent persecution and harassment by the occupation administration. Illegal arrests and repressions have become commonplace for those who dare to express their views or simply defend their rights.
“With the arrival of Russia, we no longer sleep peacefully (…) Already today, all Muslims in Crimea sleep on Wednesday and Thursday with their clothes on and do not go to bed after the morning prayers. The feeling of constant threat is so strong that when they say goodbye to their friends, they do so as if they will never see them again.”
Despite his severe illness and the pressure from the occupiers, Tofik Abdulhaziiev remains solid and faithful to his faith and ideas. According to his wife, even in prison, he has not lost his strength of mind, continues to believe in the best, and remains a support and pillar of strength for his wife.опорою та підтримкою для своєї дружини.