Life before detention
Enver Ametov was born on August 2, 1975, in Fergana, in eastern Uzbekistan. He completed only eight grades of local school: he was forced to go to work to help his mother, who was left with five children and no breadwinner.
In 1997, he completed a driving course, and from 1998, he worked at the Simferopol market, helping his family – his mother, younger brothers, and sister.
He got married in 2004. The Ametov family has three minor children.
Before his arrest, he lived with his family in Simferopol. He worked as a builder doing finishing work. He liked to spend his free time with his children.
Enver was an activist with the Crimean Solidarity organization, which provides assistance to persecuted Crimean Tatars. He regularly attended “trials” in political cases in Crimea.
Persecution
On March 27, 2019, the occupiers conducted another series of illegal mass searches in the homes of Crimean Tatars in Kamyanske, Stroganivka, and Bilyi in the Simferopol district. That day, the security forces of the occupation administration detained 20 Crimean Tatars, including Enver Ametov.
On March 28, 2019, Russian occupiers reported the detention of three more Crimean Tatars in the city of Aksay, Rostov Region, Russia. Among those detained was Osman Arifmemetov, a civilian journalist with Crimean Solidarity.
On the same day, the occupation “court” in Simferopol arrested all those detained, choosing preventive detention as a measure of restraint.
In the summer of 2019, the number of detainees in the so-called “Simferopol group in the case of Crimean Muslims” increased to 25 people. Many of those detained were activists of the Crimean Solidarity human rights movement, known for its active work in protecting victims of political persecution in Crimea. Among them are human rights defenders, citizen journalists, and volunteers.
Due to the huge volume of materials, the occupiers divided the criminal case involving 25 participants into five groups of five defendants.
In 2020, Ametov was also charged with “preparing to overthrow the constitutional order”.
Behind the bars
On November 24, 2022, a court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, found the defendants guilty on fabricated charges of so-called “terrorist activity” and “attempted seizure of power.” Enver Ametov and Yashar Muedinov were sentenced to 13 years in a strict regime colony, while citizen journalists Ruslan Suleimanov, Rustem Sheikhaliev, and Osman Arifmemetov were sentenced to 14 years.
After his arrest, Enver Ametov was held for some time in a pre-trial detention center in Novocherkassk, Rostov Region, Russian Federation. He was then illegally transferred to a prison in Yelts, Lipetsk Region, Russian Federation.
According to Enver’s wife, his health deteriorated significantly during his imprisonment. In the prison in Yelts, Lipetsk Region, Russia, he lost 15 kilograms and his hepatitis B worsened.
According to her, after his arrest, while still in the Novocherkassk pre-trial detention center, the Crimean Tatar’s stomach pain intensified. He was given injections because the pills did not help. At the same time, his dental problems worsened and his eyesight fell. Ametov also told his wife about the high humidity in the cell where he is being held.