25 July 2024

The Occupiers Transferred the Political Prisoner Seiran Saiiev to Harsher Conditions of Detention in a Russian Colony 

The occupiers illegally transferred the political prisoner Seiran Saliiev to harsher conditions of detention in a penal colony in the Tula region of the Russian Federation. Mumine Saliieva, the wife of the political prisoner, reported this. 

She said that she hadn’t been able to contact her husband for more than a month and that her letters had not received any answers. In response to Mumine’s appeal, the colony’s administration accused Seiran of a “malicious violation of the established order of the serving the sentence” and stated that he had been transferred to harsher prison conditions. The political prisoner’s wife claims that these actions are purposeful pressure.

Seiran Saliiev is a Turkish and Crimean Tatar linguist, tour guide, and civic journalist of the Crimean Solidarity public movement. He took an active civil stance, covered the occupiers’ crimes in the media, and helped the political prisoners. 

On October 11, 2017, Seiran and five other Crimean Tatars were arrested and accused of alleged “terrorism.” On September 6, 2020, the Russian court unlawfully announced the verdict on the “Crimean Muslims case.” The illegally detained men were sentenced to terms of 13 to 19 years in prison. Seiran Saliiev was sentenced to 16 years in prison; later, the term was shortened by one year to 15 years. 

In 2019, the European Parliament adopted a resolution urging Russia to release all Ukrainian political prisoners, including Seiran Saliiev.