Four Crimean Tatar women, accused of involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir, have been moved from annexed Crimea to pre-trial detention centers in Russia. This was reported by Zarema Barieva, a representative of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.
Nasiba Saidova and Elviza Alieva were taken to Pre-trial Detention Center No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don, while Esma Nimetullaeva and Fevzie Osmanova were sent to a detention facility in Krasnodar. Barieva considers the transfer of these women unlawful, noting that it constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law.
"The Russian occupation authorities continue to persecute the civilian population in annexed Crimea. First, these Crimean Tatar women were baselessly accused in a fabricated case, and now they have been illegally removed from the peninsula and dispersed among detention centers in various regions of Russia," she wrote.
The women were detained on October 15, 2025, during simultaneous raids in Bakhchisarai and the Sevastopol district. According to Barieva, armed security personnel wearing balaclavas burst into their homes around 4:00 a.m. They intimidated the women's relatives, seized electronic devices, and prevented independent lawyers from accessing the scene. The human rights defender also alleges that the security forces may have planted religious literature that is banned in Russia.
The following day, the Russian-controlled Kyivskyi District "Court" in Simferopol granted an FSB motion and ordered that all four women be placed in custody. The appeals were subsequently rejected by the occupation’s Supreme "Court" of Crimea.
"These detentions mark the first time in the history of occupied Crimea that Russian authorities have brought charges under 'terrorism' statutes specifically against Crimean Tatar women," noted Barieva. All four are accused of participating in the activities of "Hizb ut-Tahrir" and face up to 20 years in prison.
Among the accused is 20-year-old Nasiba Saidova, who worked as a nursery teacher at a kindergarten while studying at a pedagogical college. Elviza Aliyeva was a fourth-year university student who also worked part-time as a cashier at a bakery. Fevziye Osmanova worked as a shop assistant in the village of Orlovka, in the Sevastopol district. Esma Nimetullayeva is raising five minor children; her husband, Remzi Nimetullayev, is also in custody, having been arrested in 2023.
Nasiba Saidova’s health has deteriorated; she once lost consciousness in her cell, necessitating the arrival of a medical assistant. According to Barieva, her relatives still do not know the exact cause of the incident. For a long time, the women’s mothers were denied the right to visit them or send them parcels.
On December 11, 2025, all four women were added to Russia’s official list of "extremists and terrorists." Their relatives collected over six thousand signatures on a petition demanding the release of the accused and traveled to Moscow to deliver it to Tatyana Moskalkova, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia. During the journey, their vehicle was stopped multiple times by security forces, who subjected them to hours-long inspections. Moskalkova declined a meeting, but the documents were successfully delivered via her office.
The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don extended the women’s detention until March 28, 2027.
