Server Mustafayev
Detained Since: May 21, 2018.
Charges: Organizing the operations of a terrorist organization; planning a coup d'etat.
Sentence: 14 years in a high-security penal colony.
Biography: Server Mustafayev was a resident of Bakhchysarai, Crimea at the time of his arrest. He is the co-founder of Crimean Solidarity, an organization that defends victims of political persecution in Crimea. In May 2018, Russian security agents searched Mustafayev's home and arrested him. In September 2020, he was sentenced to 14 years in a high-security penal colony. In March 2022, his appeal was rejected.
In 2019 and 2020, he was honored with the Freedom of Speech award by the Crimean Fig Literature organization. His work has also been shortlisted for Crimean Tatar language literature prizes.
Advocate:Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Advocacy Partner:PEN America
Updates:
- On December 14, 2022, it was reported that Server Mustafayev had been transferred to a prison facility in Tambov Oblast, Russia. Others, such as Marlen Asanov, Seyran Saliev, and Timur Ibragimov were similarly transferred to prison facilities located in Russian regions distant from Crimea (December 16, 2022, Ukrainska Pravda).
- Server Mustafayev was featured in Freedom House's Free Them All Initiative, launched January 31, 2023. A total of 10 political prisoners are featured in the initiative, including Nguyen Van Hoa (January 31, 2023, Freedom House).
- 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 Mustafayev (March 18, 2023, Senate Foreign Relations Committee).
- Ahead of the fifth anniversary of his arrest, Mustafayev published a letter detailing his perspective on the human rights situation within Crimea (May 19 2023, Freedom House).
- During his remarks at the Third Summit of the International Crimea Platform, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the release of Server Mustafayev, Nariman Celal, Vladyslav Yesypenko, and Iryna Danylovych (August 23, 2023, Ukrinform).