For 16 days, the occupiers have been holding four Crimean Tatars behind bars: 39-year-old Esma Nimetulayeva, a pastry chef, mother of five young daughters and wife of a Kremlin prisoner, 20-year-old student of the Faculty of Management Elviza Aliyeva, 19-year-old student of pedagogical college, kindergarten worker Nasiba Saidova and 21-year-old family store worker Fevziye Osmanova. All of them were accused of involvement in the activities of the Islamic political organization “Hizb ut-Tahrir”, banned in the Russian Federation, but allowed in Ukraine and other countries of the world. They have already been called the “female Bakhchisarai group” - similar to the groups of Muslim men detained earlier across the peninsula.

On the evening of October 29, relatives of the women, elders and lawyer Nazim Sheikhmambetov, known for his work on Hizb ut-Tahrir cases, left Crimea for a meeting with the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova. In a day and a half, they were stopped five times on the road by Russian security forces.

“It's just genocide.”

October 29. An hour to midnight. Gas station near the federal highway M-4 Don, somewhere in the Voronezh region. Two minibuses of the Crimean Tatar delegation stop at the parking lot near the gas station. People have not yet had time to exhale after a long road from the Crimea, as a car of the road patrol service drives into the parking lot. Drivers are required to have documents for cars and driver's licenses, and all passengers are required to have passports. There are 16 people in this delegation. Relatives of the arrested decided to go to a personal reception to the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova, because they lost hope to achieve justice at home. Before that, the parents of one of the arrested, 19-year-old Nasiba Saidova, appealed to the Public Supervisory Commission and the Human Rights Commissioner in Crimea to check the conditions of detention of the girl and “contribute to the restoration of her rights”. However, the Russian-controlled authorities of the occupied Crimea ignored the appeal.

Mothers of political prisoners (left to right): Eleanora Osmanova, Elvira Aliyeva and Dinara Iyupova. Photo:  “Crimean Solidarity” Facebook Page

“Our explanations [to security forces in detention] were clear and concise: we are going to a meeting with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Russian Federation, Moskalkova, to convey to her the anxiety and concern of the parents of Crimean Tatar women detained two weeks ago, as well as the concern of relatives and loved ones about that the local Crimean authorities did not respond to our appeals in any way. We would like to know her [Moskalkova's] point of view,” said one of the delegates, Shukri Seitumerov. His three sons, Seitumer, Osman and Abdulmejit, are also political prisoners.

Shukri Seitumerov (fourth on the left) surrounded by relatives of the arrested, elders and activists. Photo:  “Crimean Solidarity” Facebook Page

Politician Anastasia Shevchenko (the first convicted in Russia in the case of participation in an “undesirable” organization, now living abroad and dealing with the affairs of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Russian Federation) shared with CEMAAT why the Crimean Tatars, in her opinion, went to Moskalkova.

Anastasia Shevchenko. Photo:  “Anti-War Committee” Facebook Page

“Moskalkova usually responds to the cases of women and families, elderly people,” Shevchenko said, referring to her own experience. And the queue of detentions, according to her, could have been organized by the FSB.

In a recent interview with The Insider, former employee of the Second FSB Service of Russia Alexander Fedotov said that such methods of detention on the road were used against Anastasia Vasilyeva, the head of the Alliance of Doctors, the former doctor of the Russian oppositionist Alexei Navalny killed by Putin.

“A restrictive measure was imposed on her: she had to be at home at certain hours. <... > In 2021, the task was to bring it under violation of this ordinance. When she returned home, her car was stopped by the traffic police crews <... > on the highway. <... > The usual two-minute check turned into ten to fifteen minutes. Then, as soon as she continued on her way, she was stopped a second time. In the end, she arrived home late — the violation of the regime was formally recorded,” Fedotov said.

Anastasia Shevchenko also noted that both Russian security forces and Putin himself “are afraid of the Crimean Tatars”.

“I witnessed when I was still living in Rostov-on-Don that our SIZO-1 was completely given over to the Crimean Tatars. There were dozens of them, then more than a hundred. Then it was already clear that this was just genocide. They were taken out en masse, tried inexplicably for god knows what, without a [fair] trial, investigation, evidence. Crimea is something very valuable for Putin, so he is afraid of Crimean Tatars first of all,” Shevchenko added.

Once, two, three, four, five — the Ministry of Internal Affairs goes to search

Late at night on October 30, at the first arrest, the security forces decide to “accompany” the Crimean Tatar delegation to the police department, - recalls the driver who took the delegation to Moscow. People are divided into two groups and ordered to go to different departments, with the threat of detention in case of disobedience. After checking passports and being placed in the assembly hall, lawyer Nazim Sheikhmambetov is taken to a separate office to communicate with the security forces. At this time, Russian police are interviewing the rest of the people “about where and for what purpose they are going.”

Only after clarifying all the questions, both minibuses are released: one - at 2:00 in the morning, the second - at 4:00 in the morning. The reason for the detention was not explained to the people.

Buses leave again on the M-4 Don highway. However, this time they were not allowed to go far. Stop again, 8:30 in the morning. Again threats, but this time — “call the special forces and put everyone on the floor.” Detainees are sent to one of the regional departments of the Lipetsk region.

The second detention of the security forces is explained simply: by the need to “conduct a check for extremism.” What this means is not explained.

Delegates are held in the polling booth for about an hour without charges being brought. At this time, the relatives of the detainees are already sounding the alarm. But the oral request of the brother of the arrested Nasiba Saidova, Hamza Urinbayev, in which the father and mother are part of the delegation, the Ministry of Internal Affairs ignores. And on an urgent oral complaint to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation and the prosecutor's office of the Khlevensky district, one of the officers says: “We will check, understand.” Of course, no verification was carried out. After almost six and a half hours, the delegates are released: Moscow is not far away.

The third detention, 200 kilometers from the Russian capital, is described by Crimean lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, who also works with Hizb ut-Tahrir cases, as “deliberate obstruction by security forces” of people meeting with Moskalkova. The full delegation is stopped in the Tula region near the traffic police post. Elviza's mother Aliyeva Elvira becomes angry: she has problems with blood pressure. She is urgently called an ambulance. Doctors reduce her pressure from 180 mm Hg to 150.

Elvira Aliyeva in the ambulance. Photo: website of “Crimean Solidarity”

Three hours of checking documents. Three hours of another detention for no reason. The security forces cover themselves by conducting Operation Anaconda — a selective check allegedly in search of stolen cars and drugs. However, formal reasons for detention do not stop the delegation.

“Under various pretexts, they are trying to “exhaust” the mothers of the arrested women and the rest [of the delegates] psychologically and physically. They had already been threatened with special forces and [the phrase] “let's put everyone on the asphalt,” there was an anonymous “crown call” about extremists on buses. How else can one evaluate such behavior of checkers?”, - says lawyer Kurbedinov.

“We continue to move and expect that tomorrow we will still be able to meet with the Commissioner for Human Rights,” Shukri Seitumerov confidently declares.

Moscow is only 120 kilometers away. Nevertheless, here the security guards are on guard: in the village of Koltovo in the Moscow region, there is again an unplanned stop. Another arrest.

Just at the traffic police post, the delegates' belongings are removed from the car, they are sniffed by a dog. Criminal investigation officers take passports from people, justifying this with another “check”. In the prosecutor's office of the Moscow region, the daughter-in-law of the detainee Enver Mustafayev (father of political prisoner Seidamet Mustafayev and father-in-law of political prisoner Ruslan Asanov) was told that they are also conducting a check on the detentions. And they drop the call.

After some time, delegates are issued official warnings. As it became known to CEMAAT, the police said that the actions of the delegation “create the conditions for the commission of an unlawful act”. And that responsibility for these actions is provided for by the articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation: 280 (on public calls to extremism); 280.1 (actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation); 280.3 (discrediting the Russian army); 281.1 (promotion of sabotage); 282 (inciting hostilities); 282.3 (Financing Extremism) and Article 354.1 (Rehabilitation of Nazism). Why employees warned about liability for these articles is unknown. The delegation is released, minibuses go on the road again.

“We will continue to fight for the freedom of our children.

On the morning of October 31, people decide to split up, anticipating that the cars will be stopped again, and they may not make it to the Moskalkova's office. One of the groups calls a taxi, and five minutes drive to the ombudsman's office, he is stopped. Again, traffic police officers, again passports “for verification”. The car is accompanied by security officers to the nearest gas station.

While they check the documents, the six detainees, including three political prisoners' parents, a minibus driver and two Crimean activists, are waiting in the passenger compartment. Then people are dropped off from the taxi, at which time a Skoda Octavia car drives up to the gas station. People in civilian clothes come out of it, and a taxi drives away. The question of the reason for the detention is not answered by the unknown, completely ignoring those who ask. The group of delegates is left without transport and explanations. At 14:00 they are released after talking with the Moscow police, but with the condition that they have to return to the place where their minibuses are parked.

Meanwhile, mother, father and husband of Nasiba Saidova, mothers of Fevziye Osmanova and Elviza Aliyeva, as well as lawyer Nazim Sheikhmambetov still get to Tatiana Moskalkova's office by another car. To the appeal to the ombudsman, the relatives of the arrested girls add six and a half thousand signatures of Crimean Tatars from all over the peninsula. They demand an end to the persecution of women and immediately release them.

From left to right are the husband and father of Nasiba Saidova, Nazim Saidov and Sadyk Urinbayev, mother of Fevziye Osmanova Eleanora Osmanova, mother of Elviza Aliyeva, Elvira Aliyev and mother of Nasiba Saidova, Dinara Iyupova. In the reception room of the Ombudsman of the Russian Federation. Photo:  “Crimean Solidarity” Facebook Page

Signatures left in the reception room of Tatyana Moskalkova. Photo:  “Crimean Solidarity” Facebook Page

Nasiba Saidova's mother Dinara Iyupova said: “We will continue to fight for the freedom of our children. I am grateful to everyone who signed and is worried about our daughters.”

On the morning of October 15, Russian security forces detained, and on October 16, the Russian-controlled Kiev District Court of Simferopol sent four Crimean Tatars to the detention center for two months. The mothers of five children Esma Nimetulayeva, the wife of political prisoner Remzi Nimetulaev, was incriminated the part about the organization of the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Art. 205.5 CC OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION). The same accusation was made two years ago to her husband, he is in the Rostov-on-Don detention center. The other three girls — participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Art. 205.5 CC OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION). During the search, as the relatives of Nimetulayeva and Saidova told, the security forces threw them literature banned in the Russian Federation.

In the detention center, as the Crimean Tatars themselves told, they are forced to take off their handkerchiefs with strangers, which cannot be done according to the norms of Islam. They are also kept in damp, unheated chambers without hot water. Because of this, Nasiba Saidova and Elviza Aliyeva fell ill.

On October 23, all women were sent for inpatient psychiatric examination to the Crimean Republican Psychiatric Hospital No. 1 named after N. I. Balaban. The hospital refused to accept transfers for patients, and in the SIZO their mothers were refused a meeting with the head of the institution. They wanted to discuss the conditions of keeping their daughters.

In the absence of Crimean Tatars, the occupying Supreme Court of Crimea considered the lawyers' complaint about the choice of the arrestees a preventive measure in the form of detention in a detention center and did not change it.

As the lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, representing the interests of Esma Nimetulayeva, told at the first meeting, the defense party insisted that all women choose another preventive measure, not a pre-trial detention center.

“My client could raise children — she has five of them. <... > [Could] be at home, not in the horrible conditions of the SIZO. <... > These people are not the criminals and not the terrorists they are trying to portray them as. A terrible situation, which in itself has nothing to do with the law and entails serious consequences in the form of deprivation of freedom of innocent people,” the lawyer noted.

Nimetulaeva's minor children are now with her brother. He is applying for guardianship over them.