An excerpt from book by Crimean political prisoner Osman Arifmemetov published in Norway

A fragment of the book of the citizen journalist Osman Arifmemetov, imprisoned in the occupied Crimea, ‘My Deportation,’ has been published in Norway.

This was reported by the local company Narvesen, ZMINA reports.

The publication was linked to World Press Freedom Day on May 3, and it was published as part of the project The Forbidden Times, launched last year.

The authors of the initiative draw attention to journalists who are being persecuted, and for this purpose they publish their works. Arifmemetov‘s text is the experience of a Crimean Tatar who found himself in captivity after documenting repressions on the russian-occupied peninsula.

In his work, the political prisoner describes the history of the persecution of the Crimean Tatar people and the atmosphere of fear in modern Crimea:

“I was born in exile – like all my people, expelled from Crimea. We returned home but again faced repression. In the years after the occupation, I have never felt safe – fear is everywhere. The russian authorities do not just persecute dissenters, they try to make people afraid even of their own opinions.”

Osman Arifmemetov has a number of serious illnesses, including kidney disease, osteoarthritis of the joints, prostatitis and damage to the lower extremities, and requires urgent medical examination. He is a teacher and citizen journalist who covered searches and trials of Crimean Tatar activists. Arifmemetov was arrested as part of the so-called second Simferopol group in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Osman’s book ‘My Deportation,’ written in russian imprisonment, has been distributed in Ukraine in thousands.