Russia illegally detains ~20,000 Kremlin prisoners
According to the data of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, this is the number of civilians abducted by the Russian Federation. This estimate is based on the number of appeals from relatives of abductees received by the Commissioner.
The Media Initiative for Human Rights has identified about 100 places where abducted civilians are held.
The Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea confirms 182 illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens, 60% of whom are Qırımtatarlar.
The health condition of the Kremlin prisoner Amet Suleimanov continues to deteriorate while in the detention centre
He suffers from spasms and asphyxia during breathing.
His wife Lilia Liumanova reported this to Crimean Solidarity.
Liumanova found out about it at a meeting with her husband. He asked her to buy medicines that would improve his health.
She purchased the medicines and collected the necessary documents to deliver them to her husband. However, when Liumanova came to the detention centre again, she was informed that Suleimanov would be transferred.
It is currently unknown where the Russians want to take the Crimean Tatar.
It will be recalled that Russians illegally detained Suleimanov in 2020. Since then, he has been under house arrest, as he might not live to see the end of the trial in the detention centre due to the need for a heart valve replacement.
Despite this, on February 9, 2023, the Russian Court of Appeal issued a "verdict" of 12 years in prison. Staying in the pre-trial detention centre and the prison threatens Suleimanov's life due to his illness. On April 7, he was sent to a detention centre.
Russians fabricated charges of an "act of international terrorism" against Denys Lialka, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war
He was abducted in September 2022 from temporarily occupied Kherson.
His sister Yuliia reported this to the ZMINA Human Rights Centre.
On February 23, 2022, Lialka returned to Kherson from the war zone. Until August 2022, he lived under temporary occupation. Then, Russians abducted him.
In the autumn of 2022, Yuliia received a call from Denys' Russian "lawyer" and was told that the man was being held in Moscow.
"Your brother is fine. Do not worry. They are being tried under Article 361. And the man faces a life sentence," he said. Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for charges of "an act of international terrorism" or preparation for it.
Other prisoners say that Denys pleads not guilty. Yuliia is looking for a lawyer to replace his Russian 'lawyer'.
On 5 May, a Moscow court sent Crimean Tatar Leniie Umerova to a pre-trial detention centre on fabricated charges of 'espionage'
Under Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code (espionage), she faces up to 20 years in prison. Currently, Umerova is being held in the Lefortovo Detention Centre in Moscow.
This court decision is evidenced by the case file.
Initially, the judicial information system stated that Umerova was accused of treason (Article 275 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), but such a qualification would be impossible, as Umerova does not have Russian citizenship.
No details about the content of the fabricated case are known.
"The case is under the secrecy stamp, the lawyer was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement. I only managed to write a letter to her, which the lawyer showed her, but she was not allowed to respond," her brother Aziz told Svidomi.
It will be recalled that in December 2022, Umerova left Kyiv for the occupied Crimea, as the health of her father, who lives on the peninsula, deteriorated. She crossed the Russian-Georgian border, after which she was illegally detained.
She was held in a Temporary Detention Centre for Foreign Citizens until 16 March. After that, she was abducted by unidentified persons and taken to Vladikavkaz. There, she was detained by Russian police. The court initially arrested her for 15 days.
Later, this was repeated three more times. Each time, the Russian security forces fabricated charges against her under articles that provide for administrative arrest.
