Today, Appaz Kurtamet, who was illegally sentenced by the occupiers to 7 years in jail with the first year in prison and the rest of the term in a strict regime colony, celebrates his 22nd birthday. The occupation forces completely groundlessly accused the young man of allegedly “financing an armed group illegal in Russia.”

In the summer of 2022, Appaz Kurtamet lent his friend 500 hryvnias. Subsequently, Appaz was detained in Henichesk by Russian security forces. His illegal detention was formalized at the Chongar Checkpoint. From there, he was sent to a filtration camp, where a phone check revealed that Appaz’s friend, to whom he had lent the money, was serving in the Crimea volunteer battalion. As a result, the occupation forces presented his loan as “financing an illegal armed group.”

Today, Appaz could have celebrated his birthday with his loved ones, but the occupiers deprived him, like many other political prisoners, of this opportunity. Russia illegally detains Ukrainian citizens in its prisons, violating human rights. The occupying power does not stop its repressive policy towards the representatives of one of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine—the Crimean Tatars. Only the de-occupation of the Crimean Peninsula will ensure a free and safe life for all its inhabitants!