Crimean Tatar political prisoners transported thousands of kilometers from home

Two Crimean Tatars, Ruslan Suleimanov and Timur Yalkabov, were transported to a penal colony in the Murmansk region. The transportation lasted 45 days.

“Our husbands are being taken further and further from their home. The journey is becoming more and more difficult and expensive. I have five minor children, and it will be very difficult for me. But we are not despairing. I am ready to follow my husband to the ends of the earth,” said Aliye Yalkabova, Timur’s wife.

In 2022, Timur Yalkabov was sentenced to 17 years in prison, and Ruslan Suleimanov to 14 years. They were found guilty of ties to the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in the Russian Federation. Since January 2015, in Crimea, which came under the de facto control of Russia, criminal cases have been opened en masse for participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir. According to human rights activists, Crimean Tatars are being persecuted not for preparing a coup d'etat and terrorism, but for criticizing the Russian authorities and speaking out against repressions in Crimea.

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