Young lives as collateral damage for Russia’s brazen revenge against Crimean Tatar leader

From left Asan Akhtemov, Azoz Akhtemov Photo Crimean Solidarity

It is five years since the Russian FSB burst into the homes of Crimean Tatar civic journalist Asan Akhtemov and his cousin, Aziz Akhtemov during the night and took both men away.  They were held incommunicado for the next 10 days and savagely tortured in order to extract ‘confessions’ to surreal charges openly aimed at imprisoning world-renowned Crimean Tatar Mejlis leader, journalist and civic activist Nariman Dzzhelyal.  

The FSB certainly miscalculated the power of their terror, since the two men, both of whom had very young children, found the courage to retract their confessions as having been forced out of them through torture and threats against their families.  Although doubtless annoyed, the FSB knew, however, that the retractions were mere details, since all Russian players, right through to the ‘courts’, understood the role expected of them and duly passed horrific sentences against all three men. 

Nariman Dzhelyal was, thankfully, released in a prisoner exchange on 28 June 2024, having spent almost three years in Russian captivity. Asan and Aziz remain in Russian captivity, although they were, almost certainly, always targeted primarily to fabricate a ‘saboteur plot’ and imprison Nariman Dzhelyal.  Collateral damage, so to speak.

Asan Akhtemov (b. 5.12.1989), who is married with two children, was sentenced to 15 years’ maximum-security imprisonment and is now held in Arkhangelsk region, thousands of kilometres away from his family and home. 

Aziz Akhtemov (b. 14.05.1996) was sentenced to 13 years’ maximum-security imprisonment and is held in a prison colony in Altai region, also a vast distance from his wife and their small daughter.   

Addresses are given below.  Please write if you can!  Letters are an important lifeline, showing them that they are not forgotten.  The letters also send an important message to Moscow that Russia’s treatment of the men is under scrutiny. All of those involved in the effective abductions, torture and persecution of innocent men should be subjected, at very least, to international sanctions.   

Revenge for Crimea Platform

The inaugural meeting of the international Crimea Platform took place in Kyiv on 23 August 2021.  It was attended by European Union President Charles Michel and high-ranking representatives of 45 countries, including the USA, Canada and individual EU states.  All the speakers, like Charles Michel, affirmed their non-recognition of Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian Crimea and their willingness to “stand tall against any violations of international law.”  Among the Mejlis leaders present was Nariman Dzhelyal.  Moscow reacted with angry bluster both to high-level international representation at a meeting discussing the de-occupation of Crimea, and with open repression in occupied Crimea. 

Both Nariman Dzhelyal and his wife, Leviza, had long been aware that his arrest could come any day, although they were still stunned by the insane charges that Russia fabricated.  As Dzhelyal himself wrote: “I was prepared for a charge of involvement in the activities of the ‘prohibited’ Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people; of supporting Ukraine’s territorial integrity which the Russian regime views as calls against Russia’s territorial integrity. Or that they’d use the ‘popular’ legislative norms on extremism. However the foul insanity which the Kremlin had prepared for me, was staggering.  The trip to the Crimea Platform was undoubtedly a ‘red line’.  The Kremlin reacted savagely to the event and threatened to punish those who took part in it.”

Although Nariman Dzhelyal was the last of five Crimean Tatars to be ‘arrested’ two weeks later, it was clear to all that he was the real target.  Five men were essentially abducted from early on 3 September 2021, to the morning of 4 September.   abductions after armed raids.  As mentioned,  Asan Akhtemov and Aziz Akthemov were seized during the night from 3-4 September 2021.  Both were held incommunicado and prevented from seeing independent lawyers until the European Court of Human Rights [ECHR] intervened almost ten days later. The two men immediately retracted their ‘confessions’ and gave shocking accounts of the torture used to obtain this.  As well as electric shocks and other physical torture, the FSB had also threatened reprisals against the men’s families.  

Both Eldar Odamanov, who had disappeared after the armed search of his home earlier on 3 September, and Shevket Useinov, seized during the following night, were held incommunicado until 5 September. They were then jailed for 10 and 15 days on absurd charges, quite unrelated to the armed raids on their homes.  As feared, the two latter men had been forced into ‘testifying’ against Dzhelyal and the Akhtemovs.  During the men’s trial, however, both men described the illegal methods of duress that the FSB had used to obtain such ‘testimony’.

Absurd ‘sabotage’ pretext

There is no real evidence that an act of sabotage was committed on 23 August 2021, while Dzhelyal was in Kyiv. There appears to have been some minor damage to a gas pipe in Perevalne, with the initial criminal investigation launched being under Article 167 § 2 of Russia’s criminal code (‘deliberate destruction or damage to property’.  There was no further mention of this damage, and to this day no photos, etc. have been made public.   The gas pipe in question was not on any central circuit and could be fixed relatively easily, and painlessly, given that any disruption to gas supplies was in summer.

Despite all of the above, the FSB first seized five Crimean Tatars and then came up with the claim that there had been an act of ‘sabotage’ which had been planned by Ukraine’s Military Intelligence together with the Mejlis.  

The indictment was based solely upon ‘testimony’ obtained while men were held incommunicado and without access to proper lawyers.  It was then retracted as soon as the men were able to see lawyers. The first of many increases to the charges came immediately after Asan and Aziz ignored an open threat from the FSB and retracted the ‘confessions’ obtained through torture.  

There were also three ‘secret witnesses’, whose ‘testimony’ could not be verified. As in all such cases, no grounds were provided to justify anonymity, yet the ‘court’ not only allowed it, but also obstructed the defence from demonstrating the flaws in the supposed testimony (details here). 

The men were all accused of carrying out an act of sabotage as part of an organized group (Article 281 § 2a), and of the illegal purchase, transfer or possession of explosives as part of an organized group (Article 222.1 § 4).  On 8 November, an additional charge was added, of smuggling an explosive device, as part of an organized group (Article 226.1 § 1); and of ‘causing considerable material damage to the Crimean gas network (to the tune of around 1,425 USD).  It was even claimed that the minor damage to an obscure gas pipe constituted “an attack on the Russian Federation’s defence capabilities”. 

On 21 September 2022, ‘judges’ Viktor Ivanovich Zinkov; Aleksei Viktorovich Kozyrev and Sergei Nikolaevich Pogregniak from the Russian occupation ‘Crimean high court’ sentenced Nariman Dzhelyal to 17 years’ imprisonment; Asan Akhtemov – to 15 years; and Aziz Akhtemov to 13 years, with all in harsh-regime prison colonies. Steep fines were also imposed: 700 thousand roubles (around 9 thousand euros) in Nariman’s case, 500 thousand roubles against Asan and Aziz Akhtemov.  The sentence against Dzhelyal was two years longer than that demanded by ‘prosecutor’ Roman Lobov.

All of these individuals, and the three court of appeal ‘judges’ – Yelena Urod (presiding); German Aleksandrov and Ilona Stohniy – who took just a day and a half to increase those sentences by imposing even harsher conditions, knew that they were taking part in an act of revenge and imprisoning innocent men.  So too did  Alexei Karlin, Dmitry Saburov and Igor Taratuta from the Russian supreme court’s cassation chamber who rejected the cassation appeal laid by Asan and Aziz.

Addresses

Letters do need to be in Russian, on ‘safe’ subjects  and written by hand.  If that’s a problem, there are adequate translation tools available, such as ChatGPT. 

Asan Akhtemov

165651, Архангельская область, г. Коряжма, Магистральное шоссе, д. 101, ФКУ ИК-5 УФСИН России по Архангельской области, Ахтемов Асан Исламович, 1989

Aziz Akhtemov

658209, Алтайский край, г. Рубцовск, ул. Тракторная, д. 26А, ФКУ ИК-10 УФСИН России по Алтайскому краю, Ахтемов Азиз Эскендерович, 1996 г. р.