We send you an informational text about Nariman Dzhelial, a Crimean Tatar activist, journalist, and teacher, who has been the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people since 2013. Tomorrow (April 27) he will turn 44 years old, and in honor of his birthday, we sincerely ask you to publish this text. Nariman’s personality is extremely important for Crimea and the entire Crimean Tatar people, and his imprisonment is yet another Russian outrage that Ukrainians and Ukraine’s international partners should pay attention to. This is especially important now when Russian pressure on Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories is extremely high.

Tomorrow, April 27, is the birthday of Nariman Dzhelial, the First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, journalist, teacher, and political expert, who was illegally detained by the occupiers after participating in the Inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform in 2021. He will turn 44. He will celebrate his birthday without his family and friends again, because Russia took that opportunity away not only from Nariman, but from hundreds of other people in the occupied territories. Living in the captured territories of Russia means enduring illegal searches, pressure, persecution, detention, and unlawful sentences.

Despite the occupation regime’s prohibition of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and the recognition of its activities as allegedly “extremist”, pressure and persecution of the peninsula’s residents, including Crimean Tatars, Nariman Dzhelial remained living in occupation, staying close to his people, and publicizing crimes of the Russians in Crimea. We should highlight the life story of the indomitable man, remember about his courageous deeds and about the heroic actions of other citizens of Ukraine, who are currently illegally detained in prisons by Russia. 

The occupiers illegally detained him upon his return to his native Crimea after participating in the Inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform in 2021. Despite numerous public threats from the occupation administrations the day before, Dzhelial decided to participate in the event and return to the peninsula. The Russians threatened him and some participants of the Summit with criminal prosecution for “encroachment on the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation” and the countries participating in the Crimea Platform with being added to the list of “unfriendly” countries.

Recently, I attended the Inaugural Summit of the Crimea Platform, which was extremely negatively assessed by the Russian authorities. There were public threats by the occupiers to persecute the members of the Crimea Platform, but despite such statements and threats, I returned home. Despite the current state of affairs of my “criminal case”, with which I disagree, I have no desire to leave Crimea and my own home,

Dzhelial explained in court. 

Since the beginning of the occupation of Crimea in February 2014, the peninsula has turned not only into a Russian military base but also into a prison and torture chamber. Residents are constantly at risk of being detained for opposing the occupation regime for open statements in support of Ukraine or wearing blue and yellow colors. Since the beginning of the occupation, after a series of active detentions and arrests, Nariman Dzhelial has been actively supporting the families of political prisoners and speaking publicly about human rights violations in Crimea.

Dzhelial was arrested on September 6, 2021. The occupation “court” in Crimea charged him and activists Aziz and Asan Akhtemov with sabotage: two weeks before, someone had damaged a gas pipeline in the village of Perevalne, and the occupation “investigation” was supposed to find (or rather fabricate) the perpetrators.

Before the arrest, on September 6 at night, Nariman Dzhelial reported on social media about the search in Aziz Akhtemov’s house in Pervomaiske (Simferopol district), where he also lived. The occupiers connected their visit with the explosion in Perevalne. A few hours later, they came to Dzhelial’s house with searches, and then took him to an unknown destination. The Russian Federal Security Service officers kept him handcuffed with a bag over his head, exerted psychological pressure and treated him particularly violently. That night, searches also took place in the houses of Asan Akhtemov in the village of Levadky and Shevket Useinov in Yevpatoriia. In the morning the occupants illegally conducted searches of several more houses of Crimean Tatars in different settlements of the occupied Crimea.

Dzhelial’s wife recalled the moment of his detention:

We woke up to the barking of dogs and the sound of footsteps around the house. It’s like you’re surrounded by a perimeter, and you realize that it’s getting worse and worse. They started banging on the gate and windows, and I woke Nariman up. He ran to the kitchen, where the windows face the gate, and saw people in black balaclavas jumping over the fence. Nariman ran into the bedroom, told me to get dressed and dress the children. They were coming for us.

The so-called “criminal case” of “blowing up the gas pipeline” was opened by the occupiers on the same day, September 4, the day of the detention of Dzhelial and the Akhtemov brothers. Asan Akhtemov was sentenced to 15 years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 500 thousand rubles, Aziz Akhtemov was sentenced to 13 years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 500 thousand rubles. 

Why did the occupiers detain him truly? In 2022, Nariman’s lawyer published a list of what the occupation prosecutor said in court was “evidence supporting the prosecution’s case” and what the occupation forces found in Nariman Dzhelial’s cell phone. On the way to Crimea after participating in the Crimea Platform Summit, the occupiers stopped Nariman and began to search it. They drew attention to the documents dedicated to the opening of the Crimea Platform Summit and Nariman Dzhelial’s participation in it, his correspondence with the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov on Facebook, where they discussed the issue of pressure on Crimean Tatars by Russian security forces, and the problems of social and welfare support for internally displaced Crimean Tatars in mainland Ukraine. It is also noteworthy that the list of “evidence” that allegedly indicates Nariman Dzhelial’s involvement in the sabotage includes Ukrainian passports and a Schengen visa. At the same time, the representatives of the occupation prosecutor’s office have not made available any evidence of Nariman Dzhelial’s involvement in the so-called “sabotage”, “trafficking in explosive devices and their contraband”, or any other criminal offenses. Russia no longer hides the fact that Nariman Dzhelial was persecuted for his public and political activities in Ukraine, in particular in the context of the Crimea Platform, for his participation in the social life of the Crimean Tatar people and the implementation of projects aimed at protecting human rights.

In his last speech at the trial, Nariman Dzhelial noted:

The trip to the Crimea Platform Summit is just a trigger. They accused me only because guided by my inner beliefs, I did not remain silent, calling the socio-political phenomena and events that have been taking place in Crimea since 2014 by their proper names. Calling the occupation “annexation”, the war “special operation”, and political repression “justice” does not change the illegality, and often the meanness, the nastiness of many current phenomena.

For more than two years now, Nariman has been imprisoned by Russia for supporting his people, reporting on the crimes of the occupation administrations, freedom of speech, and the struggle for human rights. In October 2023, the occupiers illegally transferred him to a prison in Minusinsk, Krasnoyarsk region of the Russian Federation. Before that, his current location was unknown for 2 months.

Nariman Dzhelial’s story demonstrates the inexhaustible lawlessness of the Russian occupiers, the systematic violation of international humanitarian law with impunity, and confirms the fact that Russia will continue to illegally detain, deport, kill Ukrainian citizens and seize other territories if we do not resist it. 

As of April 24, the occupiers illegally imprisoned 218 people, including 133 Crimean Tatars. Of the total number, 40 are arrested (including 29 Crimean Tatars), 150 are imprisoned (including 98 Crimean Tatars), and 28 are without status (including 6 Crimean Tatars). 

From the occupation prisons, the political detainee repeatedly wrote letters to the Ukrainian people, expressing his faith in Ukraine’s victory. In the terrible conditions of imprisonment, and constant psychological and physical pressure, Nariman Dzhelial does not allow himself to lose heart and continues to be an example of steadfastness for many Ukrainians. He has repeatedly expressed his belief that the fate of Crimea and the real situation of the occupied territory of Ukraine is not a local or even a regional problem. “Russia’s ongoing undisguised armed aggression is not only against Ukraine but also against the existing system of international legal relations. Therefore, the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, together with Crimea, is a matter of international stability and security.” Nariman also addressed the participants of the Crimea Platform summits. 

Nariman Dzhelial also keeps a prison diary, and some of his notes and letters come from inside the prison. One of the letters Dzhelial sent to Ukrainian society, which is fighting back against the enemy:

Dear soldiers of Ukraine! Brothers and sisters volunteers! Dear Ukrainians! A fierce enemy cannot break your will, your strength, your determination. Ukrainians of different blood and different faiths have united facing the enemy invasion. I, as well as all Ukrainian patriots in the Kremlin’s prisons, are proud of you, and pray for you, for our victory. May your feet stand firmly on your native land and your hands hold your weapons tightly. May God and the souls of the murdered citizens of Ukraine protect you, your family, and your friends. I support the actions of Ukraine’s leadership and express my gratitude to the international community, our friend countries, and people of goodwill for supporting our country during the war and our fellow citizens who were forced to leave their own land. I believe in our soldiers! Glory to Ukraine!

The occupiers are systematically using violence against our citizens, persecuting them, exerting psychological pressure, and torturing them. They are destroying the lives of Ukrainian citizens and the lives of their families: our people are unable to return home, attend family celebrations, and even bury their loved ones. Russia rejects any appeals, does not exchange political prisoners, and generally ignores any agreements and norms of international law. 

Only the de-occupation of Crimea and all Ukrainian territories will be able to guarantee this security and protect the rights of all Ukrainian citizens. 

The international community must help Ukraine in the fight against Russia and the liberation of our territories and people because only this can ensure security, full respect for human rights and freedoms, and the restoration of international order.