THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
The Court of Appeal of the russian federation refused to release the Crimean Tatar journalist Amet Suleymanov from custody despite the presence of two serious illnesses incompatible with imprisonment.
Illegally sentenced to death at the age of 12, a citizen journalist urgently needs a heart valve replacement, reports Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada (Ombudsman of Ukraine).
As it became known from the lawyer Lili Gemeji, an independent examination confirmed the diagnoses, according to which Amet Suleymanov is subject to immediate release from custody. But the russian court ignored it. Meanwhile, the political prisoner’s condition is only getting worse. He needs the supervision of cardiologists and rheumatologists, as well as lifelong bicillinotherapy.
Amet Suleymanov is not taken out for walks, which he needs due to arthrosis of the lower and upper limbs, which is rapidly developing. New diseases are added to the existing diseases in the inhuman conditions of detention behind bars. So, hypertensive retinal angiopathy started in Amet Suleymanov.
As reported, on October 29, 2021, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don accused citizen journalist Amet Suleymanov of involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization banned in the russian federation and sentenced him to 12 years in prison under Article 205.5 of the criminal code of the russian federation.
“Amet Suleymanov may not survive until the end of his prison term!” emphasizes Dmytro Lubinets. “He must be immediately freed from russian captivity and provided with qualified medical assistance!.. The failure to provide proper medical assistance to citizens of Ukraine, who are illegally detained by the russian federation in prisons, has a systemic nature; according to the Geneva Convention, it amounts to torture and violates the inalienable right to life. Last year, two Crimean political prisoners – Dzhemil Gafarov and Kostiantyn Shyring – died in russian prisons. They had health problems, but they never received help,” said the Commissioner.
Dmytro Lubinets appeals to the world community and international human rights organizations to use all available levers of influence on russia and respond to the shameful facts of violation of the rights of Ukrainian citizens and demand the release of all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens.
In russia, not only freedom of speech and the right to life, but also the right of prisoners to be kept in proper conditions are consistently denied. Thus, the head of the Investigative Committee of russia, Alexsandr Bastrykin, advocating the introduction of the death penalty in the russian federation, stated the allegedly excessively high cost of keeping prisoners. “What else does it mean? Three meals a day, two-hour walks. Medical examination, including a dentist. Don’t his teeth hurt?” – said Bastrykin sarcastically.
The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) is among the signatories of the Statement condemning the imprisonment of Amet Suleymanov, a citizen journalist with a heart condition, Crimean Solidarity. We call on foreign governments and international organizations to demand that the russian federation end the politically motivated criminal prosecution of Amet Suleymanov and release him. We express our solidarity with the media workers who were illegally seized by the occupying state and are being held in captivity, and we demand their immediate release!
Read the detailed human rights analysis of the Amet Suleymanov case on the NUJU website.
NUJU Information Service
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