Seyran Saliev
Detained Since: January 26, 2017.
Charges: Participating in the activities of a terrorist organization; preparing a coup d'etat; propaganda of terrorism on the internet.
Sentence: 15 years in prison. Reduced from 16 years in prison.
Biography: Seyran Saliev, a resident of Bakhchysarai, was reporting on illegal searches of Crimean Tatar homes following the peninsula's annexation. He called on fellow citizens to support victims of Islamophobic persecution; for this, he was fined in 2016. Not long after, in January 2017, his home was searched. In October of that year, his home was searched again, and he was arrested. His initial sentence was 16 years in a high security prison; on March 14, 2022, his case was partially appealed—his sentence was reduced to 15 years. He is currently being transferred to the high security prison where he will spend over a decade of his life.
Advocacy Partner: PEN America
Past Advocate: Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ, Ret.)
Updates:
- On December 14, 2022, it was reported that Seyran Saliev had been transferred to a prison facility in Tula Oblast, Russia. Others, such as Server Mustafayev, Marlen Asanov, and Timur Ibragimov were similarly transferred to prison facilities located in Russian regions distant from Crimea (December 16, 2022, Ukrainska Pravda).
- 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 Saliev (March 18, 2023, Senate Foreign Relations Committee).