Crimean Tatar political prisoner dies in Russian prison

60-year-old Rustem Virati died in a prison in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region. This was reported from Ukraine by the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov.

According to Chubarov, Virati was detained in the spring of 2023 in the Kherson region, which is under Russian control. He was accused of participating in the activities of the Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Çelebidžihan, which was recognized as “terrorist” in Russia. During interrogations, the elderly man was tortured, as his relatives said. Later, Rustem Virati was sentenced to 8 years in a maximum security penal colony and transferred to the Russian Federation.

Since January 2015, in Crimea, which came under Russian control, they began to massively initiate criminal cases on participation in the aforementioned battalion, as well as in the Hizb ut-Tahrir party. According to human rights activists, Crimean Tatars are being persecuted not for preparing a coup d'etat or terrorism, but for criticizing the Russian authorities.

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