11 November 2025

Tofik Abdulgaziyev’s eyesight has sharply deteriorated

Aliye Kurtametova, the wife of Crimean Tatar political prisoner Tofik Abdulgaziyev, has reported a partial loss of her husband’s eyesight. According to Aliye, the deterioration began back in October, when Tofik lost his peripheral vision and complained of blurred and foggy central vision. Despite repeated complaints about his condition, a prison ophthalmologist has not yet examined Abdulgaziyev.

“He cannot see the plate he is supposed to eat from. When he tries to dial a number on the phone, he needs help — he presses the wall instead. He can’t read or write the letters he receives from his community,” Aliye Kurtametova said.

Since March 2024, Tofik Abdulgaziyev has been held in the Prison Tuberculosis Hospital No. 3 in Chelyabinsk. He was diagnosed with disseminated pulmonary tuberculosis affecting the intrathoracic lymph nodes. In April, he was transferred to intensive care, where doctors confirmed the tuberculosis diagnosis along with several severe comorbidities, including bilateral pneumonia, anemia, heart disease, gastritis, and urolithiasis. Despite his critical condition, in August 2024 the court denied Abdulgaziyev’s request for early release.

Tofik Abdulgaziyev was detained in March 2019 following one of the most extensive mass raids on Crimean Tatar homes in Simferopol. He, along with dozens of other Crimean Solidarity activists, was accused of alleged involvement in a terrorist organization. In May 2022, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Abdulgaziyev to 12 years in a high-security penal colony. In July 2023, he was transferred to the Verkhneuralsk prison in the Chelyabinsk region.

Read more about Tofik Abdulgaziyev’s case here: https://cutt.ly/ltwkx9Pv