Ten Crimean political prisoners released as part of exchanges since invasion - rights watchdog

This was reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center (CTRC), Ukrinform reports.

In particular, during the entire occupation of Crimea, the following prisoners were swapped:

- Hennadiy Afanasyev, who was sentenced to 7 years in a top security colony. He was detained on May 10, 2014, and returned to Ukraine on June 14, 2016 as part of the exchange. In total, he was held in the pre-trial detention center for two years

- Akhtem Chiygoz, who was sentenced to 8 years in a colony. He was detained on January 29, 2015, and released on October 25, 2017, before being handed over to Turkey. In total, he was held for 2 years and 11 months.

- Ilmi Umerov, who was sentenced to 2 years in a settlement colony. He was detained on May 12, 2016, but was released on recognizance, and on October 25, 2017, he was handed over to Turkey. He was under compulsory psychiatric examination for 21 days from August 18 to September 7, 2017.

- Oleh Sentsov, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was detained on May 10, 2014, and released on September 7, 2019 as part of the exchange. In total, he was held for 5 years and 3 months.

- Oleksandr Kolchenko, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was detained on May 10, 2014, and released on September 7, 2019 as part of the swap. In total, he was held for 5 years and 3 months.

- Yevhen Panov, who was sentenced to 8 years in a top security colony. He was detained on August 7, 2016, and released on September 7, 2019 as part of the exchange. He was held for 3 years and 1 month.

- Volodymyr Balukh, who was sentenced to 3 years and 7 months. He was detained on December 8, 2016, and released on September 7, 2019 as part of the swap. He was held for a total of 2 years and 9 months.

- Edem Bekirov, who was sentenced to 7 years in prison. He was detained on December 12, 2018, and released on September 7, 2019 as part of the swap. In total, he was held in the pre-trial detention facility for 9 months.

- Nariman Dzhelal, who was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He was detained on September 3, 2021, and released on June 28, 2024 as part of the exchange. He was held for almost 3 years.

- Lenie Umerova, who was detained on December 4, 2022, and released on September 13, 2024 as part of the exchange. In total, she was held for almost 2 years.

These prisoner swaps were the result of “enormous efforts” by state authorities, public organizations, human rights defenders, activists, and families of political prisoners, the report reads.

Also, according to the CTRC, since the outset of the occupation, the number of political prisoners and those persecuted by Russia in Crimea has reached 356, of which 222 are Crimean Tatars.

It is noted that since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the practice of persecution and oppression of the pro-Ukrainian population spread to the newly occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Earlier, Ukrinform reported that 219 Crimean political prisoners remain in Russian prisons.