Kremlin prisoner Osman Arifmemetov addresses NUJU and EFJ

According to the coordinator of the Crimean Solidarity non-governmental organization, Lutfiye Zudiyeva, the Crimean citizen journalist Osman Arifmemetov, convicted by the russian court system, submitted his appeal to the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) after russia’s court of appeal refused to reconsider his case.

Here, we offer his letter in full:

“Dear colleagues,

I ask you to read this letter with an understanding of the difficult situation in which I am. The military court of appeals has passed a sentence against me. For my journalistic activities, I was sentenced to 14 years of imprisonment in a high-security prison the first four years in a closed-type prison. Moreover, for the first year in a closed-type prison, the administration has to keep me under a special regime.

We are still surprised that devotion to the ideals of truth is condemned to the most severe punishment in russia. The trial that led to my conviction, as you already know, was riddled with irregularities, fraught with falsification of evidence. I, like many other citizen journalists of Crimea, became a victim of manipulation by power structures and political pressure in an illegitimate state. I plan to continue fighting to clear my good name. I am preparing for a cassation appeal and then the international institutions.

I prepared information on a significant amount of violations both at the investigative stage and at the stage of the trial on the merits in the first instance and the court of appeal. All the material is ready to be provided to the world community so that counterfeiters are not believed.

I am neither a criminal nor a terrorist, nor are my friends, prisoners of conscience. It is important to draw your attention to the sentencing, which was the result of carefully planned measures to suppress dissenting political and religious opinions.

Fighting for rights and ideals, I turn to you for support. Now, I am waiting for a difficult and long journey to places of punishment, of which there are only seven in russia. I am turning to you for additional support in the form of visiting diplomats of foreign countries. This will not only help draw attention to my situation, but also bring the issue of prisoners of conscience to the informational level. Visits by diplomats, in addition to moral support, can strengthen my immunity, which will tie the hands of the supervisors in violating my rights. It will also open access to independent doctors on the prison grounds, which will significantly improve the conditions of detention for me and my colleagues. Monitoring and control by diplomats will help ensure compliance with my rights and conditions of detention. Thank you for your selfless commitment to support those who stand up for the truth. Together, we can overcome difficulties.

Best regards

Osman Arifmemetov,

citizen journalist, political prisoner.”

Osman Arifmemetov‘s closing speech, “There is no such thing as someone else’s pain,” from the aforementioned trial is published on the NUJU website.