Crimean Muslim political prisoner endures harsh conditions for over three years in Russia’s Bashkortostan colony

Muslim Aliyev, a religious leader from temporarily occupied Alushta, sentenced to 19 years in prison, has been held for more than 1,140 days in barracks under harsh conditions in Penal Colony No. 2 in Salavat, in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan.

Muslim Aliyev

His wife, Nadji Adji-Mamutova, told the Crimean Solidarity grassroots human rights initiative that her husband has been subjected to these conditions since August 16, 2022. He has also been periodically placed in solitary confinement.

One reason cited was that he did not interrupt his salat (prayers) when the colony chief entered the cell. Aliyev sent a complaint about his placement in solitary confinement to the Salavat City Court, but the situation did not change.

On February 11, 2016, following a search of his home, the Federal Security Service (FSB) – Russia’s security agency operating illegally in occupied Crimea – arrested him and accused him of involvement in the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir. The organization has been banned in Russia since 2003; however, it operates legally in all territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as well as in many other countries. Russia, in violation of the Geneva Conventions, applies its own criminal legislation to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

On November 12, 2019, a Russian court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Aliyev to 19 years in prison. In 2020, a military appeals court upheld the sentence.

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Earlier, ZMINA reported that 38-year-old Crimean political prisoner Seiran Khairedinov, who is serving an illegal 12-year sentence, had developed severe eczema.