Amet Suleimanov
Detained: March 12, 2021.
Charges: Membership in a terrorist organization (Article 205.5).
Sentence: 12 years of imprisonment. Currently under house arrest to be sent to a prison colony at an unspecified date.
Biography: Amet Suleymanov is a resident of Bakhchysarai and a citizen journalist for the Crimean Solidarity initiative. A reporter, he was detained by occupying authorities in 2017 and again in 2019 as a consequence of his reporting on the searches and arrests of Crimean Tatars. While he has been working less frequently due to chronic heart disease, he was nonetheless arrested in 2021 on trumped-up charges of organizing operations of a ‘terrorist organization.' Shortly thereafter, he was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment. He is currently on house arrest, but the prosecutor demands that Suleymanov be sent to a strict regime prison colony as soon as possible. Amet has heart disease and is in dire need of a heart valve replacement procedure. While under arrest by Russian authorities, he cannot access this treatment that is necessary for his long-term survival.
Advocacy Partner: PEN America
Past Advocate: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ, Ret.)
Updates:
- Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) released a statement on March 18, 2023, calling for the release of all 14 Crimean Journalists in the Defending Freedoms Project, including Suleimanov (March 18, 2023, Senate Foreign Relations Committee).
- On April 6, 2023, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported on Twitter that Amet Suleimanov had been "taken into custody and transferred to isolation center" despite his heart condition (April 6, 2023, Twitter @EmineDzheppar).