US calls for release of citizen journalist Rustem Sheykhaliyev on his birthday

On June 22, Crimean Tatar citizen journalist and political prisoner Rustem Sheykhaliyev turned 47. On this occasion, the US Tom Lantos Commission on Human Rights, which promotes and protects international human rights standards, issued a call for his release.

As ZMINA reports, the commission wrote about this on social network X.

The statement notes that Rustem Sheykhaliyev remains behind bars due to his journalistic and public activities related to covering human rights violations in the occupied Crimea.

“Today marks the 47^th birthday of Crimean Tatar citizen journalist Rustem Sheykhaliyev, born in 1979. Rustem remains unjustly imprisoned for exposing human rights violations. Rustem and all political prisoners in Crimea must be released,” the statement said.

Rustem Sheykhaliyev was detained by russian security forces during mass searches of Crimean Tatar homes in March 2019. At that time, more than two dozen people were arrested simultaneously in Simferopol and the surrounding areas.

Prior to his arrest, Sheykhaliyev actively assisted the families of political prisoners, attended court hearings in politically motivated cases, and organized programs for illegally imprisoned Crimean Tatars. Since 2015, he has been engaged in citizen journalism, documenting searches, detentions, and other manifestations of repression against the Muslim community of Crimea.

In November 2022, the Southern District Military Court sentenced the journalist to 14 years in a maximum-security prison. During the appeal hearing in 2024, Sheykhaliyev stated that the charges against him were related to his religious beliefs and public statements.

The Tom Lantos Commission was established by the US House of Representatives in 2008. It monitors the human rights situation in the world and draws the attention of US lawmakers to cases of political persecution, including in the occupied territories of Ukraine.