Ruslan Suleymanov
Detained: March 27, 2019.
Charges: Organizing the operations of a terrorist organization (Article 205.5).
Sentence: 14 years in prison.
Biography: Ruslan Suleymanov, was reporting on human rights violations in Crimea when he was detained twice, in 2017 and again in 2019. In March 2019, Russian security agents arrested Suleymanov following a search of his home in Simferopol. He faces 20 years in prison with the possibility of a life sentence. Suleymanov is being held in pre-trial detention in Russia, in Rostov-on-Don.
Suleymanov is one of the primary individuals featured in Crimea 5 am, a multimedia theater project on the topic of Crimean journalists arrested since the occupation.
Musa Suleymanov, Ruslan's three-year-old son, died under suspicious circumstances in 2020, while Suleymanov was in detention. Human rights organizations in Crimea and across Ukraine have expressed doubts about the nature of the child's death. After Musa died, President Zelensky demanded that President Putin release Ruslan from prison so that he could properly grieve. The request was denied.
Also, in July 2019, Ruslan Suleymanov was forced to undergo psychiatric evaluation in detention. Further details on this matter are unknown.
Advocacy Partner: PEN America
Past Advocate: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ, Ret.)
Updates:
- On November 24, 2022, Ruslan Suleymanov, Osman Arifmemetov, and Rustam Sheykhaliev were sentenced to 14 years in prison (November 25, 2022, CPJ).
- 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 Suleymanov (March 18, 2023, Senate Foreign Relations Committee).