Ukraine returned from Russian captivity the deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people

As part of the exchange process, Ukraine was able to return 10 civilians from the Russian Federation, including those detained before the start of the SVO. Among those released is the deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Nariman Jelal, who was arrested in Crimea in 2021. Previously, the Memorial human rights center recognized him as a political prisoner.

In addition, the priests of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, captured in Berdyansk, and 5 Ukrainian citizens arrested in Belarus were released.

Nariman Jelal is the deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, which is banned in the Russian Federation as an “extremist organization.” The activist was detained on September 3, 2021 on suspicion of blowing up a gas pipeline in the village of Perevalnoye by order of Ukrainian intelligence and sentenced to 17 years in prison. He did not admit his guilt.

In the defendant's criminal case, the standards of access to fair justice set out in the European Convention on Human Rights were violated. Human rights activists from the Crimean Process reported this. In particular, at the appeal stage, the court actually closed the process to listeners, and the principles of openness and publicity were ignored.

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