Two Crimean activists transferred to prison in Russia’s Murmansk region

NGO Crimean Solidarity reported this on Facebook, according to Ukrinform.

“Political prisoners Timur Yalkabov and Ruslan Suleimanov have been transferred to Penal Colony No. 17 in the Murmansk region,” the post reads.

The group said it learned of the transfer from Suleimanov’s wife, Elzara, who received a call from her husband via the prison communication system, Zonatelecom.

According to her, the transfer process lasted 45 days. Both activists are currently being held in quarantine cells. The distance from Crimea to the penal colony is over 3,500 kilometers.

“Our men are being taken farther and farther from home. The journey becomes more difficult and costly. I have five minor children, and it will be very hard. But we are not giving up. I’m ready to follow my husband to the ends of the earth,” added Aliye, Yalkabov’s wife.

Suleimanov, a civic journalist and member of the Crimean Solidarity movement, was detained by Russian border guards on March 26, 2019, at the Kalanchak checkpoint. He was arrested the next day.

On November 24, 2022, Russia’s Southern District Military Court sentenced Suleimanov to 14 years in prison.

Yalkabov was detained on February 17, 2021, as part of the so-called “third Simferopol group” case. Despite suffering from chronic asthma, he was sentenced on March 22, 2022, by the same court to 17 years in a high-security prison.

Both men were convicted of involvement in the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia.