Crimean Tatar political prisoner-journalist transferred to strict conditions of detention

Crimean Tatar journalist Osman Arifmemetov has been transferred to strict conditions of detention in the Minusinsk prison in Krasnoyarsk Krai. In connection with this, he is prohibited from calling his relatives. This was reported by Krymskaya Solidarnost with reference to the prisoner's mother Emdiye Arifmemetova.

The activist also told his mother that he had lost 22 kilograms in prison. This is explained by poor nutrition, in particular, the fact that pork is added to his food, which Arifmemetov does not eat for religious reasons.

In 2022, Arifmemetov was sentenced to 14 years on charges of terrorist activity and an attempt to seize power. He and four other defendants in the case were accused of involvement in the Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation. According to the investigation, the defendants were engaged in militant Islamic propaganda and were planning a constitutional coup in Crimea.

Arifmemetov did not plead guilty and considers his persecution to be political, since he criticized the authorities of the Russian Federation and Crimea after the peninsula was annexed to Russia.

"We are accused of thought crime in the context of the general fight against dissent in Russia. And the judicial system has become an instrument for destroying alternative opinions, thoughts that differ from the position of the authorities," Osman Arifmemetov said in court.

According to lawyer Lili Gemedzhi, the secret witnesses in the case, who spoke under pseudonyms, were not acquainted with the defendants. The defense tried to prove that the charges brought against the activists were unfounded.

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