CrimeaSOS: at least 38 Crimean political prisoners have critical health problems

Of the more than 150 victims of politically motivated persecution in Crimea, at least 38 have critical illnesses or disabilities. Basically, the conditions of detention in places of deprivation of liberty lead to a critical deterioration of health or diseases.

“Inhumane conditions of detention in places of detention are the cause of exacerbation of chronic diseases among victims of politically motivated persecution in Crimea. According to available information, at least 38 victims of politically motivated persecution in Crimea have critical health problems. 30 of them are people over 50 years old and retirees”, — says CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko.

On May 24, it became known that the Russian Military Court of Appeal in Vlasikha (Moscow region, russian federation) rejected the appeal against the sentence of the 60-year-old activist Azamat Eiupov, involved in the “case of the Crimean Muslims”. On July 19, 2022, the judge of the Southern District Military Court of the russian federation Kyrylo Kryvtsov sentenced the man to 17 years in a strict regime colony.

Even before his arrest, Eiupov was diagnosed with atherosclerotic heart disease, which complicates blood supply and can form a blood clot with subsequent heart attack or stroke.

Even healthy people develop health problems because of inhumane detention conditions. Due to the overcrowding of pre-trial detention centres, the terrible sanitary condition of the buildings, the lack of medical care and the torture of prisoners, the Crimean prisoners of the Kremlin are under mortal threat.

This year, the lack of proper medical care in places of detention led to the deaths of two Crimean political prisoners: Kostiantyn Shyrinh and Dzhemil Hafarov.

In addition, the prisoners of the Kremlin repeatedly resorted to hunger strikes because of the lack of medical care. According to the Head of the Board of CrimeaSOS Oleksii Tilnenko: “the hunger strike is actually the only mechanism for drawing attention to the crimes suffered by the victims of politically motivated persecution, in particular, in Crimea”.

You may learn more about the conditions of Crimean political prisoners in Crimea and the facts of human rights violations in pretrial detention centres in the CrimeaSOS study.