Life Before The Detention

Zekiryayev Server Zekiyevych was born on 1 April 1973 in Angren, Uzbekistan.

After completing 9th grade, he enrolled in a technical college, where he obtained a qualification to teach physical education. In 1989, upon graduating from the college, the Zekiryayev family returned to Bakhchysarai.

At the age of 18, Server began teaching physical education at a school in Bakhchysarai and, for some time, also worked as a baker at a bread factory. In parallel, he was engaged in cultivating vegetables and growing seedlings. Later, his family started cultivating flowers and established a flower business.

Persecution

On 11 October 2017, security officers conducted raids on Crimean Tatars in Bakhchysarai. Afterward, they detained six men: Server Zekiryayev, Timur Ibragimov, Marlen (Suleyman) Asanov, Memet Belyalov, Seyran Saliev, and Ernes Ametov. They were accused in the so-called case of the Crimean Muslims.

Later, Server Zekiryayev was transferred to Rostov-on-Don, and in 2020 he was sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment. In September 2022, Server reported that he had been transferred from Rostov-on-Don to the Tula region of Russia.

The Zekiryayev family has 13 children. Following Server’s detention, the family’s bank account, from which they received social assistance as a large family, was frozen.

Behind The Bars

In 2020, Server Zekiryayev testified in court, where he stated his innocence and that the case had been falsified.

“Our struggle has always been peaceful and has never had a violent nature. We are a people who have endured so many trials and we know that we must confront you, tyrants, in the political arena. Yet you accuse us of ‘terrorism’ and ‘seizing power.’ The Russian Federation has created conditions that force people to leave their homes — another ‘deportation.’”

In 2023, Server Zekiryayev was placed in a punitive isolation cell without any explanation. His cell was subjected to regular searches, his letters to his family were withheld, and his relatives were denied visits.

In addition, Server was refused a transfer to a correctional facility closer to home.
During his detention, Server Zekiryayev’s health deteriorated. In 2024, Server’s wife described his condition as “severe poisoning and exhaustion,” accompanied by episodes of vomiting and intense stomach pain.

Server also reported being subjected to ill-treatment in the correctional colony. However, the colony administration has not responded in any way to Zekiryayev’s complaints.