Life before the detention

Teymur Abdullayev was born on May 27, 1975, in Baku, Azerbaijan. From an early age, he demonstrated various talents: at six, he could read and count fluently, and later he played the violin, piano, and wind instruments, participating in various concerts. Sports played a significant role in his life: from childhood, he practiced judo and go-karting.

In 1987, Teymur entered the Baku Military School. Later, he returned to the Crimean Peninsula, where he enrolled in the Simferopol Technical School of Law, specializing in “Jurisprudence.” After his studies, he worked as a lawyer and later as a Taekwondo coach in Simferopol, helping to develop the sport in the city.

Persecution

In 2016, following mass searches of Crimean Tatars, Russian security forces detained Teymur Abdullayev. During the search, electronic storage devices and religious literature were seized. He was charged in the so-called Crimean Muslims case, specifically for alleged participation in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, which Russia considers terrorist.

In 2019, a Russian so-called court sentenced Teymur Abdullayev to 17 years of imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony. Later that year, his sentence was reduced by six months.

Behind the bars

After the sentencing, Teymur Abdullayev was moved to a maximum-security penal colony in the Russian city of Salavat. Since the first years of his imprisonment, he has faced systematic disciplinary measures and is regularly placed in a punishment isolation cell (SHU), often for formal or fabricated reasons.

Inadequate conditions of detention have affected Teymur’s health: he developed blood pressure issues, his vision deteriorated, and kidney disease was documented. Furthermore, the colony’s so-called administration restricts his contact with his family, hindering communication. Only in 2025—for the first time in nine years—was he able to see his youngest daughter, whom he had last held in his arms when she was still an infant.