The convicted deputy head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars was transferred to another pre-trial detention center

Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatars Nariman Jelal, sentenced to 17 years in prison, was transferred to pre-trial detention center-2 in Simferopol. This was reported by the Qırım Gayesi association.

“Pre-trial detention center No. 2, opened last year, was previously used only to hold persons under investigation by the FSB and abducted civilians from the newly occupied territories,” noted representatives of Qırım Gayesi.

Nariman Dzhelal and brothers Asan and Aziz Akhtemov were found guilty in September 2022 of sabotage on a gas pipeline in the village of Perevalnoye (clauses “a” and “b”, part 2 of article 281 of the Criminal Code, part 4 of article 222.1 of the Criminal Code and part 3 Art. 226.1 of the Criminal Code). Dzhelal was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum security colony, and Asan and Aziz Akhtemov were sentenced to 15 and 13 years in maximum security, respectively. All defendants were sentenced to one and a half years of restriction of freedom after the end of their sentence. They will also have to pay fines: Akhtemov - 500 thousand rubles, Dzhelal - 700 thousand rubles.

According to investigators, in August 2021, the Akhtemovs, on instructions from the Ukrainian special services, installed an explosive device on a gas pipeline in the village of Perevalnoye, which led to an explosion and a short-term shutdown of gas supply. Dzhelal was accused of introducing the Akhtemovs to one of the alleged organizers of sabotage, collaborating with the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine.

The case against the Akhtemovs and Dzhelal became known in September 2021 - then their home and two other people were searched. Later, the court sent the accused to a pre-trial detention center.

On September 13 of the same year, independent lawyer Aider Azamatov was able to meet with Asan Akhtemov. The man said that after his arrest he was tortured in the basement: they shocked him, put wires on his earlobes, and wrote “Grati.”

Akhtemov was forced to tell the version the security forces needed on camera. After that, they took him into the forest and suggested: “Come on, run and remember that I’m a good shooter.” He refused to run. He was taken to the FSB building, where he again repeated the required testimony. “Even now I have seizures when I fall asleep. I feel like I'm forgetting how to breathe. I haven’t really gone to the toilet for a week now,” Akhtemov said in a conversation with his lawyer.

On September 14, Aziz Akhtemov told his lawyer about the torture used on him, including electric shock, Crimea.Realii wrote. The brothers later retracted their confessions.

One of the witnesses in the case, Nariman Ametov, also spoke about torture. On December 17, 2021, he was searched . After that, as Ametov said, FSB officers put him in a car, put a bag over his head and took him out of the city. Then, according to the man, they took him into the basement, tied him with tape to a chair and began to shock him.

May 14 Nariman Dzhelal's illness worsened after being placed in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol. His wife Leviza Dzhelalova spoke about this on her Facebook with reference to his lawyer.

“The regime is tough, I would say cruel for a pre-trial detention center - from rising at 6 a.m. until bedtime at 10 p.m., they are on their feet, walking, or can sit on a bench in a cell; sitting or lying on a bed during the daytime is prohibited. From the moment of entering the pre-trial detention center, they shaved their head and beard. They are led in a position bent 90 degrees with their heads down, hands behind their backs. Nariman’s illness has worsened, three intervertebral hernias, which in these conditions complicates his stay there; it is difficult for him to sit and stand,” wrote the prisoner’s wife.

In addition, from the moment he was transferred to the detention center, he was not allowed to transfer food and belongings. His documents and books were confiscated for inspection.

• Nariman Jelal is the former deputy head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. The Supreme Court of Crimea recognized this association as an extremist organization and decided to liquidate it on April 26, 2016. According to information from the representative office of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, the real reason for Dzhelal’s detention was his participation in the “ Crimean Platform ” summit - the event took place in Kiev shortly before the initiation of a criminal case against the man.