Fevzi Saganji is a political prisoner

A Crimean Tatar has been sentenced to 10 years and six months in a strict-regime penal colony on charges of participation in the Çelebicihan Battalion

The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Fevzi Saganji a political prisoner. Saganji has been convicted of participation in an illegal armed group for allegedly performing manual chores at the Noman Çelebicihan volunteer battalion. Saganji’s criminal prosecution and conviction have violated his right to fair trial and are related to his citizenship and ethnic origin. We demand that Fevzi Saganji be immediately released, his conviction quashed and all criminal charges against him dropped, and that an investigation be conducted into his allegations of torture.

What were the charges against Fevzi Saganji?

Fevzi Saganji left Crimea after its occupation in February 2014 and lived with his family in mainland Ukraine, where he worked for a charitable foundation that helped displaced people and then part-time as a taxi driver, and on construction sites. In September 2017, Saganji returned to Crimea to care for his grandmother who was gravely ill.

Russian authorities reported that Saganji had been remanded in custody in March 2018, but it later became known that he had been detained in October 2017. He was charged with participation in ‘an illegal armed group motivated by political hatred for purposes contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation’ (Article 208, Part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code). According to the prosecution, Saganji opposed the Russian annexation of Crimea and therefore decided to join the Noman Çelebicihan Battalion, where he allegedly underwent military training, cooked food, chopped wood and built trenches.

On 23 January 2019, a Russian-controlled court in Crimea sentenced Fevzi Saganji to 10 years and six months in a strict-regime penal colony.

Saganji maintains his innocence of the charges and has claimed that FSB officers subjected him to torture.

Why do we consider Saganji a political prisoner?

Saganji’s participation in the Çelebicihan Battalion is not proven. The case against him was based primarily on the testimony of three witnesses who had previously taken part in similar prosecutions for involvement in the Çelebicihan Battalion. The circumstances of detention of these ‘witnesses’ and their dependence on the investigative authorities make their testimony untrustworthy. For example, one of them had been sought by their relatives for six months before they appeared at a press conference organised by the FSB to announce their ‘repentance.’

Furthermore, participation in the Çelebicihan Battalion does not constitute a crime. This association appeared in September 2015 after the leaders of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people announced a civil blockade of Crimea. A few months later, a similar decision was taken by the Ukrainian government. The Battalion never took part in combat operations and in fact was not an armed formation, but a civic association.

In any case, the activities of the Çelebicihan Battalion cannot be considered illegal. The Battalion’s joint border patrols with the Ukrainian Border Guard Service are proof of this. At the same time, it is not the activities of the Crimean Tatar Çelebicihan Battalion that contradict the interests of Russia, but the illegal seizure of Ukrainian territories.

A detailed description of Fevzi Saganji’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 Fevzi Saganji at the following presumed address:

In Russian: 600020, г. Владимир, ул. Большая Нижегородская, д. 67, ФКУ Т-2 УФСИН России по Владимирской области, Саганджи Февзи Меметовичу 1994 г. р.

In English: Fevzi Memetovich Saganji (born 1994), Prison No. 2, Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia for Vladimir Oblast, 67 Bolshaya Nizhegorodskaya Street, Vladimir, 600020, Russia.

You can also send an email via ZT (for payment with Russian bank cards).

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.