The Russian occupiers have transferred Crimean Tatar activist and human rights defender Riza Izetov, who was unlawfully sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment, to the Penal Colony No. 1 in the Republic of Sakha, Russia, 9,000 kilometers from Crimea.

Riza Izetov was arrested in 2019 along with the so-called “second Simferopol group.” The political persecution of the activist for his human rights work began even earlier: he was detained three times in 2015 and throughout 2017, and his home was searched.

On March 10, 2022, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Riza Izetov to 19 years in prison, with the first five years to be served in the most severe prison regime. He is to spend the remainder of his sentence in a strict-regime colony, and the court also imposed a year and a half of restricted liberty following his release.

The activist’s mother, Nadiie, has not seen her son in six years and is unable to make such a long journey due to her own health issues.