19 December 2025

The Face of Resistance: The Story of Crimean Tatar Activist Memet Belyalov

Life Before The Detention

Memet Belyalov Reshatovych was born on January 2, 1989, in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. In 1991, he returned to Crimea with his family, settling in Bakhchysarai.

There, Memet completed secondary school and later earned a bachelor’s degree in radio engineering. As he was unable to find employment in his field at the time, he worked in a mobile phone store.

Persecution

In 2017, security forces carried out mass searches of Crimean Tatar homes in Bakhchysarai. Following the raids, six men were detained — Timur Ibragimov, Marlen (Suleiman) Asanov, Memet Belyalov, Seiran Saliyev, Server Zekiryayev, and Ernes Ametov. They were accused in the so-called Crimean Muslims case.

On September 16, 2020, Memet Belyalov was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment. In December 2022, his lawyer Emil Kurbedinov reported that Memet had been transferred to the Novgorod region. The lawyer described this as a “forced abduction” from Crimea and attempted to challenge the actions of the Russian authorities.

Behind The Bars

During his imprisonment, Memet Belyalov, like some other Crimean Tatars, was placed in a punishment cell. One of the reasons cited was that he did not have time to put on a shirt after performing ablution before a guard arrived. In August 2025, Memet Belyalov was transferred to a prison in the Russian Republic of Karelia and placed in a high-security confinement cell. According to the political prisoner’s mother, Memet was not allowed to make phone calls to his family.

While in detention, as early as 2023, Memet reported health problems. In particular, he said that he had lost about 15 kilograms and was experiencing joint and tooth pain. In early January 2025, Memet’s father, Reshat, passed away in Crimea. He had spent all those years fighting for his son’s release.

Since 2014, Russia has systematically persecuted residents of Crimea, illegally detaining and sentencing them on fabricated charges. As of December 2025, the occupying authorities have unlawfully imprisoned 224 people, 133 of whom are Crimean Tatars.