Mother of the youngest political prisoner of the Russian Federation, Crimean Tatar Appaz Kurtamet, petitioned the European Parliament
Ayşe Kurtamet, the mother of the youngest political prisoner, 22-year-old Crimean Tatar Appaz Kurtamet, has appealed to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, to increase pressure on the Russian Federation to release prisoners for political reasons.
Ayşe Kurtamet with a portrait of her son Appaz during a rally in Brussels. Source: “Crimea.Realities”The petition, compiled by the Vetan-Crimea association, emphasises that Russia is now a dictatorship based on state terrorism. It highlights the systematic practice of political ethnic repression against Crimean Tatars in the occupied territories, particularly in the Kherson region and Crimea, through mass searches, arrests, and fabricated criminal cases.
“People are sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 8 to 25 years without evidence or legal basis. The conditions of detention are inhuman and barbaric. Prisoners are deprived of medical care, proper nutrition and their basic rights. Many suffer from physical and psychological violence,” the petition states.
Among the Crimean Tatars illegally detained by the occupiers in the pre-trial detention centers (as of July 2025):
- Abdulvapov Ametkhan
- Abduramanov Mustafa
- Abdurahmanov Bilal
- Azizov Aziz
- Ablaev Bakhtiyar
- Akimov Charaz
- Aliev Renat
- Ametov Nariman
- Asanov Ibraim
- Asanov Ruslan
- Bai Asan
- Bekirov Edem
- Buyukhchan Khadija
- Gafarov Akim
- Gugurik Bekir
- Dzhemilova Lera
- Dolgopolov Mamed
- Esmambetova Niyara
- Karamurza Eldar
- Kashka Arsen
- Krosh Enver
- Kurtnezirov Emir
- Lyumanov Memet
- Mamutov Ali
- Mustafaev Vait
- Mustafaev Mamed
- Mustafaev Seydamet
- Mustafaev Rustem
- Nimetulaev Remzi
- Osmanov Rustem
- Seitumerov Abdulmedjit
- Seitumerov Ernes
- Smedlyaev Abibulla
- Tazhybaev Mirzaali
- Temeryanov Vilen
- Umerov Amethan
- Khalilaev Enver
- Shemshedinov Ismail
- Yakubov Eldar.
At least 116 Crimean Tatars are serving illegal sentences in the occupiers’ penitentiary institutions.
Earlier, Ayshe Kurtamet held a rally near the European Parliament, demanding an international response to the mass repressions against the Crimean Tatar people in the occupied Crimea. This was reported by the publication “Krym.Realii”.
During the rally, she called on the Russian Federation to release all Crimean political prisoners, including her son and his father, Khalil Kurtamet.
Before the full-scale Russian invasion, Appaz Kurtamet worked in an IT company and taught the Crimean Tatar language at the Odessa Crimean Tatar Cultural Centre. In July 2022, at the age of 19, he was illegally detained by the occupiers in the village of Novooleksiivka in the Kherson region.
In April 2023, Appaz Kurtamet was sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly financing terrorism, particularly the Ukrainian volunteer battalion.
Ayshe recalled that Khalil Kurtamet was kidnapped a year after Appaz’s detention. He was subsequently pressured and tortured before being arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison for allegedly participating in the Noman Chelebidzhikhan volunteer battalion.
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Earlier, ZMINA reported that Appaz Kurtamet was held in the Sebezhskaya colony the pre-trial detention center in the Pskov region of Russia for ten days, from June 18 to 28.
A 22-year-old prisoner of the Kremlin claims that there were no prerequisites for this punishment. He explains that Russian penitentiaries often carry out the so-called planned isolation, which doesn’t require a pretext or reason.
