Crimean Tatar political prisoner regularly placed in punishment cell

Over the past two months, political prisoner Memet Belyalov has been repeatedly sent to the punishment cell of colony No. 9 in the Novgorod region. The last time the official reason for transferring a Crimean Tatar to a ShIZO was the lack of a shirt. When Memet Belyalov was taking a bath, an observer entered the cell, and he did not have time to put on a long-sleeved shirt. The employee of the colony regarded this as a violation.

The Southern District Military Court in September 2020 sentenced Belyalov to 18 years in prison. He was found guilty of participating in the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation. According to human rights activists, members of the organization are being persecuted not for preparing a coup d'état and terrorism, but for public actions against political repressions in Crimea and criticism of the Russian authorities.

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