Crimean Tatar political prisoner transferred to penal colony thousands of kilometers from home
Crimean Tatar activist Ernest Seitosmanov, sentenced to 17.5 years in prison, was transferred from a prison in Vladimir to Correctional Facility No. 2 in Angarsk (Irkutsk Region).
On February 9, 2022, the 40-year-old man was detained during searches conducted by security forces at several addresses in Crimea. Seitosmanov, like other activists, was charged with organizing the activities of a terrorist group and preparing for the violent seizure of power.
In May 2023, the Southern District Military Court sentenced him to 18 years in prison for ties to the Hizb ut-Tahrir party, banned in Russia. In November of that year, an appeals court reduced his sentence to 17.5 years. In 2020, his brother, Enver Seitosmanov, was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum-security penal colony.
In the spring of 2024, the activist reported unsatisfactory conditions in the penal colony, including a cramped, damp, and cold cell, as well as what he described as unjustified placement in a punishment cell.
