Ukrainian citizen Leniye Umerova is a political prisoner

She was subjected to a whole series of short jail terms for administrative-law offences and then remanded in custody for espionage

The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Leniye Umerova a political prisoner. She is being prosecuted on a charge of espionage for photos of military equipment allegedly found on her phone. Before the indictment, Umerova was sentenced four times to short jail terms on absurd administrative-law charges. Her criminal prosecution contradicts international law on the treatment of civilians in times of war, violates the right to fair trial, and is based on fabricated evidence. We demand Umerova’s immediate release and that all criminal charges against her be dropped. We also demand the release of other unlawfully detained Ukrainian citizens and the termination of all unfounded prosecutions against them.

What are the charges against Leniye Umerova?

Leniye Umerova, a Crimean Tatar, moved to Kyiv in 2015 where she studied and worked while regularly travelling to visit her parents in Yevpatoria. At the end of 2022, Umerova went to Crimea to see her father, who was being treated for cancer.

On the night of 3 December 2022, when crossing the border between Georgia and Russia, Umerova was detained by the FSB. She was accused of violating the rules for staying in Russia and placed in a detention centre for foreigners where she spent three months. In March 2023, her defence lawyers secured her release but as she was leaving, she was kidnapped by unidentified persons. She was taken to Vladikavkaz, where she was ‘officially’ detained by police. There, a court jailed her four times in a row, each time for 15 days, for allegedly disobeying police officers.

In May 2023, Umerova was taken to Moscow where she was remanded in custody on a charge of espionage (Article 276 of the Russian Criminal Code). According to the FSB, Leniye Umerova ‘passed information about Russian military facilities and the equipment of the Vostok army group’ to a foreign power. The evidence was allegedly found in ‘technical equipment’ that had been seized.

Umerova’s case has been classified and she has not been allowed to receive visits or phone calls. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment.

Why do we consider Umerova a political prisoner?

The offence of ‘espionage’ was amended on 14 July 2022 to meet ‘wartime requirements.’ However, the investigative authorities have charged Umerova with passing on information to a foreign power about Russian units located in parts of Ukraine’s Kyiv Oblast they occupied from 24 February to the beginning of April 2022. At that time, the passing of such information was not a crime under the Russian Criminal Code.

At the same time, we have serious doubts that Umerova actually did the action with which she has been charged. The fact that the investigative authorities kept Umerova in custody for several months before they could bring charges speaks to the weakness of the evidence and its possible fabrication. According to Leniye’s father, she has been accused of taking photographs that were in fact downloaded from the Internet. Umerova’s brother claims that in the first days of the war, she left for Turkey to escape the conflict and was not on the territory of Kyiv Oblast.

Umerova’s criminal prosecution contradicts the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. In addition, Umerova is being tried under the Russian Criminal Code, which has never been in force on the territory of Ukraine.

A detailed description of the case of Leniye Umerova and our position are available on our website.

Recognition of an individual as a political prisoner does not imply the ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project agrees with, or approves, their views, statements, or actions.

How can you help?

You can write to Leniye Umerova at the following address:

In Russian: 111020, Москва, Лефортовский вал, д. 5, п/я 201, ФКУ СИЗО-2 ФСИН России, Умеровой Ление Резвановне, 1998 г. р.

In English: Leniye Rezvanovna Umerova (born 1998), Remand Prison No. 2, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, P. O. Box 201, 5 Lefortovsky Val, Moscow, 111020, Russia.

Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the recipient.

You can donate to support all political prisoners in Russia.