Remzi Nimetulaev

A resident of Bakhchysaray, a father of five children, and an activist of Crimean Solidarity, a movement that helps persecuted Crimean Tatars.

Police officers detained him for the first time on 23 November 2021 at the temporary detention facility in Simferopol. He was assigned 10 days of administrative arrest. He was detained when he came to meet his lawyer Edem Semedlyaev, whose administrative arrest had expired.

On 24 August 2023, in Bakhchisarai and other settlements of the Bakhchisarai district of Crimea, the FSB officers searched the houses of Crimean Tatars and detained six activists of the Crimean Solidarity movement, including Nimetulaev. They were charged with involvement in the activities of a terrorist organisation in connection with involvement in the activities of the Islamic party "Hizb ut-Tahrir".

Representatives of this community are prosecuted in terrorism cases and sentenced to huge terms solely because of, in fact, party activities - holding meetings, reading literature and attracting new supporters.

The project "Supporting Political Prisoners. Memorial" notes that there is no evidence that supporters of the movement were involved in the terrorist attacks.

A significant part of the persecution of Hizb ut-Tahrir members is the repression against Crimeans, which began after the annexation of Crimea. Such cases have become a convenient tool to put pressure on protest-minded Crimean Tatars.

It is worth noting that the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir are banned in a number of countries due to radical anti-Israeli statements of the party's representatives. The ECHR considered the ban on the movement in Germany fair. However, the European Court pointed out that no evidence of terrorist activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir followers had been found.

You can read more about politically persecuted people in the Telegram channel OVD-Info LIVE and our database of politically motivated criminal prosecutions.