Server Zekiryaev, a Crimean Tatar sentenced to 13 years in prison in the so-called “Hizb ut-Tahrir case,” is facing a serious deterioration in health while serving his sentence in IK-1 in the Tula region. According to his wife, Zarema Zekiryaeva, he has developed dangerous symptoms due to prolonged confinement in harsh isolation conditions.
This is reported by Finway
Critical Condition and Denial of Medical Assistance
According to his wife, Server has been complaining of tongue numbness for over a year. Recently, he has experienced a metallic taste of blood in his throat, as well as blood-stained sputum. He feels sharp chest pain, which may indicate serious internal injuries. Since September 2022, Zekiryaev has been almost continuously held in strict regime cells or punishment isolation, negatively impacting his physical condition.
“For a year now, Server has been experiencing tongue numbness. A month ago, he developed a metallic taste of blood in his throat, and for some time now, he has been coughing up blood-stained sputum. It feels like there is some kind of wound inside his chest,” Zekiryaeva reported.
Zekiryaev has repeatedly complained about a constant smell of ammonia in the facility due to sewage manholes near the cells, leading to nausea, vomiting foam, and a feeling of oxygen deprivation. According to his lawyer, the colony administration ignores requests for a toxicological blood test and continues to isolate the political prisoner: he was recently sent back to punishment isolation for at least until April 8. The family has been unable to visit since September 2022 due to formal reasons.
Persecution Based on Religious Grounds
Server Zekiryaev is the father of thirteen children and worked as a physical education teacher in occupied Bakhchisarai before his arrest. Along with him, five other residents of the city were detained in October 2017 – Timur Ibragimov, Marlen Asanov, Memet Belyalov, Seyran Saliev, and Ernes Ametov. The FSB of the Russian Federation charged them with participating in the banned organization “Hizb ut-Tahrir” on the territory of Russia and occupied Crimea, after which all of them received lengthy prison sentences in September 2020.
The international Islamic political organization “Hizb ut-Tahrir” declares its goal to unite Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate, rejecting the use of terrorist methods. Its members report unjust persecution by the Russian Federation and in Crimea, which it has occupied since 2014.
Human rights defenders emphasize that Crimeans convicted in the “Hizb ut-Tahrir case” have become victims of religious discrimination. Most of those persecuted are Crimean Tatars, as well as Ukrainians, Russians, Tajiks, Azerbaijanis, and representatives of other ethnic groups who practice Islam. International law prohibits the imposition of the legislation of the occupying state in occupied territories.