Wikipedia

Zevri Abseitov

Zevri Abseitov (Ukrainian: Зеврі Абсеітов, Russian: Зеври Абсеитов) along with Remzi Memetov, Rustem Abiltarov, and Enver Mamutov are united by a common criminal case of the so-called first "Bakhchysarai Hizb-ut-Tahrir case".[1] Islamic "Hizb-ut-Tahrir" organization is lawful in Ukraine, but illegal in Russia.[2] All four men have been arrested in Crimea and imprisoned in Russia after annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[3] All of them were charged with the article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("violent upheaval and violent retention of power"). Enver Mamutov, Remzi Memetov, Rustem Abiltarov , and Zevri Abseitov – have been termed "Hostages of the Kremlin" by the Open Dialog Foundation[4] and political prisoners by the Memorial Human Rights Center.[5] US Mission to the OSCE has called on Russia to end its campaign of repression and harassment of ethnic Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and other groups in Crimea for their peaceful opposition to Russia’s occupation and to release all of those individuals it has wrongfully imprisoned.[6]

Zevri Abseitov
Зеврі Абсеітов
Born (1975-08-12) August 12, 1975 (age 49)
Uzbekistan
NationalityUkrainian
Alma materSergiy Georgievsky Crimean State Medical University
OccupationDentist
Known forarrest, criminal prosecution by Russian authorities
Criminal charge(s)terrorism, preparing the violent seizure of power by an organized group in prior agreement
Criminal penalty8 years 9 months in prison (2018 - 2027) in FKU IK-1 UFSIN of Russia, in Stavropol region. ФКУ ИК-1 УФСИН России, Ставропо́льский край
Children4

Biography

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Born in Deportation, Zevri Abseitov is a member of Crimean Tatars community in Ukraine. In 1992, short after Ukraine had declared its independence, Abseitov returned to Ukrainian Crimea and enrolled into a dental school. Upon graduation, Zevri Abseitov practiced at a local hospital, opened his own dental office and worked as a dentist up to his arrest. Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation brought back former Soviet Tatarophobia and discrimination against Tatars escalated sharply.[7] Abseitov's wife Fatma and their four children live in Crimea.

Persecution and arrest

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The four Crimean Tatars from Bakhchysarai were arrested after the standard armed searches on May 12, 2016.[8] The charges against Zevri Abseitov were based on "involvement" in the pan-Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, which Russia declared terrorist.[9] Mamutov, was designated the more serious charge of "organizing a Hizb ut-Tahrir" group (under Article 205.5 § 1 of Russia’s criminal code). The others were accused of involvement in that group (under Article 205.5 § 2). After men’s arrest, new charges were brought under Article 278, of having been planning to violently seize power.[10]

Following the arrest, all four men were put into the detention facility in Simferopol, where they spent two years. On May 22, 2018 Abseitov and the other three co-accused Crimean Tatars were transported from the detention facility in Simferopol to Rostov-on-Don in Russia.

Conviction

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The prosecution in the court was based solely on the testimonies of three secret witnesses and an examination commissioned by the FSB.[11] One of the witnesses claimed, he had to see Abseitov at his dental office and then they were gone to a café where Abseitov told him that he was involved in Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Under cross-examination, this witness gave a completely wrong description of Abseitov’s office and could not describe the café, he had purportedly visited with Abseitov.[10] The court ignored evidence that witnesses were giving inconsistent testimonies and their charges were unfounded.[12] On December 24, 2018 judges of the North Caucuses Military Court in Rostov-on-Don Roman Plisko, Anatoly Kolesnik and Igor Kostin convicted all four Crimean Tatars and sentenced Enver Mamutov to 17 years in a high-security prison and 1 year and 6 months of supervised release. Zevri Abseitov, Remzi Memetov, and Rustem Abiltarov were sentenced to 9 years in a high-security prison and 1 year of supervised release.

In his final statement, Abseitov stressed his innocence and called the case “politically motivated”.[11][13] On July 11, 2019 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation got three months off their sentences – Enver Memutov got sixteen years and nine months instead of seventeen years; Zevri Abseitov, Remzi Memetov, and Rustem Abiltarov got eight years and nine months instead of nine years. Ukrainian Consul Taras Malyshevskyi tried to get access to Abseitov, but Russian authorities have denied Abseitov Ukrainian consular assistance, claiming that he was a Russian citizen.[14]

Support and reactions

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The highly politicized "Bakhchysarai Hizb-ut-Tahrir case" has resonated in Ukraine and worldwide. Official Kyiv added Zevri Abseitov to a list of the Prisoners of the Kremlin.[15] The Ukrainian Helsinki Group has considered this case a politically-motivated persecution exercised by the occupying authorities against disloyal individuals.[1] Kharkiv Human Rights Protection group and the Memorial Human Rights Center consider Zevri Abseitov a Political Prisoner of War. [16] [17] According to Amnesty International, "Bakhchysarai Hizb-ut-Tahrir case" has been a repressive tactic employed by the Russian authorities against the Crimean Tartar community.[12] Muslim Crimean Tatar community has been subjected to systematic persecution by the Russian authorities since the occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation.[18][19][20] The European Parliament called on Russia to release immediately all illegally and arbitrarily detained Ukrainian citizens, both in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, and to provide for their safe return.[21][22]

The social media campaign uses the hashtag #freeAbseitov, #LetMyPeopleGo.[23]

Further reading

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  • "Speakers Urge Peaceful Settlement to Conflict in Ukraine, Underline Support for Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity of Crimea, Donbas Region". United Nations. April 20, 2019.
  • "Crimean Tatars: UN Secretary General to Present Report on Human Rights in Crimea". Unrepresented Nations & People Organizations. September 9, 2019.
  • "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine". United Nations. 2 August 2019.
  • Şamilkızı, Gönül. Kırım Ateşi (in Turkish). Ötüken Neşriyat A.Ş. ISBN 978-605-155-711-3.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Statement with regard to the court hearings in so-called "Hizb ut-Tahrir case" against Crimean Tatars". Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union. July 10, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Coynash, Halyna (2019-10-09). "No "Normalization" while Russia is still holding at least 87 Crimean Tatar and other Ukrainian political prisoners". Ukrainian Echo. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  3. ^ Svetlana, Dorosh (2016-12-23). "МИД: в тюрьмах России и Крыма - более 30 украинских политзаключенных". BBC Ukraine (in Russian). Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  4. ^ "Hostages of the Kremlin:increase of the number of Ukrainian political prisoners in the Russian Federation and the illegally occupied Crimea". osce.org. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  5. ^ "Defendants in the first Bakhchisarai Hizb ut-Tahrir trial are political prisoners". Human Rights Centre Memorial. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Macris, Gregory (2016-07-07). "Ongoing Violations of International Law and Defiance of OSCE Principles and Commitments by the Russian Federation in Ukraine". Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Blair, David (2016-07-07). "Special Report: Crimea Tatars endure second tragedy under Russian rule". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  8. ^ "Zevri Abseitov, defendant of the"Hizb ut-Tahrir case" to be transported to colony". Crimean Tatar Resource Center. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  9. ^ "Statement with regard to the court hearings in so-called "Hizb ut-Tahrir case" against Crimean Tatars". Crimea SOS. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Coynash, Halya. "Death no obstacle to Russia's brutal persecution of Crimean Tatars". Human Rights in Ukraine. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  11. ^ a b Naumlyuk, Anton (2018-12-24). "The court pronounced its verdict in the Hizb-Tahrir case in Bakhchysarai". Радио Свобода (in Russian). Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "Crimea: In the Dark: The silencing of dissent". Amnesty International. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  13. ^ Veselova, Viktoria; Dorogan, Alexina (2018-12-24). "Незабытые. В ожидании обмена: мусульмане из Бахчисарая". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)Крым.Реалии. (in Russian). Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  14. ^ "МЗС обурюється, що Росія не допускає консулів до незаконно утримуваних українських громадян". Zmina (in Ukrainian). 2016-07-16. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  15. ^ "Prisoners of the Kremlin or the test of Russia" (PDF). Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  16. ^ "Russian political prisoners in the year of 2018:the situation and its trends". OSCE. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
  17. ^ "Russia is holding over 70 Ukrainian Political Prisoners of War". PEN Ukraine. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  18. ^ Chornokondratenko, Margaryta (2019-03-15). "Five years on, Crimea annexation divides a family". Reuters. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  19. ^ Klimkin, Pavlo (2019-03-19). "Five years have passed, and Russia is still occupying territory in Ukraine". Washington Post. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  20. ^ "Two Crimean Tatar leaders freed from prison, flown to Turkey". Associated Press, Daily Herald. 2017-10-25. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  21. ^ "Crimean Tatars: USA and European Parliament Condemn Russian Occupation of Crimea". Unrepresented Nations & Peoples Organization. Retrieved December 16, 2019.
  22. ^ "European Parliament resolution of 16 March 2017 on the Ukrainian prisoners in Russia and the situation in Crimea (2017/2596(RSP)". The European Parliament. 2016-03-16. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  23. ^ "#LetMyPeopleGo list of Ukrainian citizens deprived of freedom in occupied Crimea and Russia on political motives". Let My People Go. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
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