Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev has commented on Armenia’s plans to begin preparing an application to join the European Union, saying Yerevan would ultimately fail to secure EU membership but could seriously damage its relations with Russia and other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
Alie Murdabayeva, spouse of political prisoner Timur Yalkabov, wrote a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office, the Public Monitoring Commission for Human Rights and the Public Defender’s Office about the violation of her husband’s rights. Crimean Tatars were regularly placed in the punishment cell of the prison in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region, without any justification.
Timur Yalkabov - asthmatic, has a third group disability. He wrote that prison officers repeatedly violated the rights of him and other prisoners. The guards made abusive remarks and used physical violence. During one week, they searched the cell several times and found nothing illegal, but simply confiscated the prisoners' personal belongings.
In March 2022, Yalkabov was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He was found guilty of participating in «Hizb ut-Tahrir», an Islamic political party banned in Russia since 2003, but operating freely in Ukraine and other countries of the world.