Instead of providing (potentially life-saving medical tests and treatment, the Russian prison staff are increasing Dmitriev's torment by punishing him for being too weak to do their 'morning exercises'

Tofik Abdulgaziev is no longer in a critical care ward, however he is suffering many life-threatening conditions, with these effectively part of Russia’s reprisals for his human rights activism

Russia’s attempt to mask its persecution of Yury Dmitriev and attack on Memorial behind scurrilous criminal charges has failed, as demonstrated by this honour and the award for an important film on ‘the Dmitriev Affair’

Russia has already killed two political prisoners and is clearly willing to cause the death of 68-year-old Khalil Mambetov; Azamat Eyupov (60) and others as part of its terrorization by quota ‘trials’

A substantial majority of Russians view mass murderer and dictator Joseph Stalin “with respect, admiration or approval”. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, just 4% of Ukrainians give such a response

Russia is not disguising its threats against Crimean Tatar journalist Kulamet Ibraimov if he continues courageously reporting repression in occupied Crimea

Moscow has orchestrated sentences totalling 45 years and shattered three families in what was, from the outset, recognized as an act of revenge against Nariman Dzhelyal, for his part in the international Crimea Platform inaugural meeting in Kyiv.

There seems every reason to assume that the new torment is also part of Moscow’s revenge against a man whose courage and moral fibre it cannot understand or break

Ivan Yatskin is receiving no medical care for serious health issues, with Russian prison staff using any pretext to impose new 'punishments' on the Ukrainian patriot

Yury Dmitriev, world-renowned Russian historian, head of the Karelia branch of the Memorial Society and political prisoner, is spending his fourth term in a punishment cell in the space of just two months

A kangaroo court in Russian-occupied Crimea has imposed horrific sentences against Nariman Dzhelyal and two young cousins, Asan and Aziz Akhtemov, on entirely fictitious ‘sabotage’ charges

Those who believe that Ukraine must accept Russia’s occupation of Crimea so that Putin can ‘save face’ should bear in mind the mounting persecution of Crimean Tatars including in areas recently invaded

The real number of political prisoners held by the current Russian regime is likely to be much higher

Russia’s FSB intensified its use of torture in fabricating criminal charges against Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainians in 2021, with the charges against Nariman Dzhelyal and two other men based solely on ‘evidence’ obtained through such means

Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has finally adopted a long-needed bill that will provide social and legal aid to around 400 political prisoners, hostages and prisoners of war, held in captivity in Russia or occupied Crimea and Donbas, and their families

The only ‘evidence’ for the grotesque ‘sabotage’ claims against Crimean Tatar journalist and public figure, Nariman Dzhelyal and two cousins, Asan and Aziz Akhtemov, has come from three secret ‘witnesses’ probably tortured into providing such 'testimony'

Oleh Prykhodko’s wife and daughter were allowed a three-hour meeting with the Ukrainian political prisoner on 18 January, and report that the 63-year-old is in a terrible state after torture and ill-treatment in Russian captivity

Russia’s trial of Akhtem Chiygoz was planned as a triumphant victory over all Ukrainian resistance to its occupation of Crimea.  It went badly wrong and, instead, exposed the methods Moscow used to try to mask its land-grab

Memorial HRC has played a huge role in monitoring Russia’s repression in occupied Crimea, and the excuses given for demanding its closure may well augur a new escalation in political persecution.

It has taken five years, two acquittals and flagrant violations of the right to a fair trial, for those seeking a long sentence against renowned historian of the Soviet Terror and head of the Karelia branch of Memorial, Yury Dmitriev to get their way.