Aider Umerov is a political prisoner
A Crimean Tatar from Kherson Oblast in Ukraine has been sentenced to six years in a strict-regime penal colony on charges of participation in the Noman Çelebicihan battalion
The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Aider Umerov a political prisoner. Umerov has been convicted of participation in an illegal armed group for allegedly being on duty at checkpoints between mainland Ukraine and Crimea where he checked cars. The criminal prosecution violates Umerov’s right to fair trial and is connected to his nationality and ethnic background. We demand the immediate release of Aider Umerov and that his criminal conviction be quashed.
What were the charges against Aider Umerov?
Aider Umerov is a citizen of Ukraine and a resident of the village of Rykovo in Kherson Oblast.
In May 2022, Russian occupation forces searched his home and took him to an unknown destination. Nothing was known about Umerov’s fate for almost six months.
It was only in November 2022, after the verdict had been handed down in Umerov’s case, that information about what had happened to him emerged. Russian law enforcement officers claimed Umerov was detained on the border with Crimea on suspicion of participation in an illegal armed group (Article 208, Part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code). According to the investigative authorities, Umerov had joined the Noman Çelebicihan Volunteer Battalion in 2016. In that capacity, Umerov allegedly checked vehicles at checkpoints into Russian-occupied Crimea and performed other routine work for the battalion.
On 10 November 2022, Aider Umerov was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in a strict-regime penal colony, with the first year to be served in a cell-type prison. The sentence was handed down by Judge Mikhail Belousov, a former Ukrainian judge convicted of treason in absentia in Ukraine.
Why do we consider Umerov a political prisoner?
The criminal case against Umerov was based almost entirely on his confession and the testimony of classified witnesses. The latter were also allegedly members of the Çelebicihan Battalion and claimed to be able to identify Umerov. There are no grounds to trust either the testimony of such witnesses or the ‘confessions’ of Umerov, given the circumstances of his detention.
Other evidence in the case includes the testimony of an FSB officer who stated that Aider Umerov’s name appeared in an ‘established list of participants of this group.’ The ‘list’ itself was not considered evidence in the case, and the court did not check its origin or reliability.
Even if Umerov had been connected to the Çelebicihan Battalion in 2016, he had left it long since. Furthermore, Umerov’s alleged participation in this association does not constitute a crime.
The creation of the Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion was announced by Lenur Islyamov in September 2015. At that time, the leaders of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people had announced a civil blockade of Crimea. Members of the Battalion checked goods in vehicles on the ‘border’ with Crimea. Over the next two months, the Ukrainian government banned the supply of goods and services from and to Crimea, except for humanitarian goods. Since January 2016, members of the Asker association, created on the basis of the Battalion, have carried out joint patrols with the Ukrainian Border Service. The Battalion has never taken part in combat operations.
Despite the fact that the creation of this association was not enshrined in law, its activities cannot be considered illegal. Proof of this is the joint patrolling of the border together with Ukrainian security forces. Moreover, it was never the Battalion’s activities that were evidently contrary to Russia’s interests, but the illegal seizure of Ukrainian territory.
A detailed description of Aider Umerov’s case and of our position is 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 Aider Umerov at the following address:
In Russian: 357000, Ставропольский край, Кочубеевский р-н, с. Кочубеевское, ФКУ ИК-1 УФСИН России по Ставропольскому краю, Умерову Айдеру Османовичу, 1996 г. р.
In English: Aider Osmanovich Umerov (born 1996), Penal Colony No. 1, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Stavropol region, Kochubeyevskoye rural locality, Kochubeyevsky district, Stavropol region, 357000, Russia.
You can send an email via Zonatelecom (Russian bank cards), PrisonMail (other bank cards), or OVD-Info (free of charge).
Please note that letters in languages other than Russian are highly unlikely to reach the recipient.
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