Ukrainian Ministry Demands for Medical Assistance to Be Provided to a Tatar Prisoner

Photo from Ukrinform–UATV

 

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA) asks for Ukrainian doctors to be admitted to see Uzeir Abdullaev, a Tatar who is illegally imprisoned in occupied Crimea.

Spokeperson for the MFA, Mariana Betsa, wrote this on Twitter.

“Uzeir Abdullaev, who is illegally detained in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol, is in critical condition. Every hour counts now. We are asking for Ukrainian doctors to be admitted,” Betsa wrote.

Oleksandra Matviichuk, coordinator of EuroMaidan SOS, was informed by Abdullaev’s mother of his condition.

“For the last three days, he has had a fever of 104°F. They can bring it down for no longer than half an hour. The situation is very serious, Uzeir’s left leg is red and swollen from knee down; the pain is unbearable. Since yesterday, he has been receiving antibiotic shots. As a doctor myself, I assume this is [a symptom of] septicemia, Uzeir must be admitted to hospital. Every hour counts now, help,” Abdullaev’s mother wrote in a letter.

During the last court session on April 27 of this year, lawyer Sergei Legostov stated that Abdullaev’s health had deteriorated sharply. However, neither he nor Abdullaev himself were told of the diagnosis, since February, when Abdullaev first started experiencing the symptoms.

44-year-old Abdullaev was arrested in October 2016, following a slew of police searches in occupied Crimea. He was charged allegedly for membership to Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is recognized in Russia as a terrorist organization. During the searches, secret service officers seized all his money. His lawyer’s request to leave at least enough to feed his four children was ignored.

Abdullaev’s brother was also detained and is being tried as the organizer of terrorist activities. The case is known colloquially as the Case of the Simferopol Five. Both the Abdullaev brothers are said to have been beaten by Russian authorities during interrogation.

Abdullaev lived in the village of Stroganovka. He is a national champion of Ukraine in taekwondo. He used to teach children martial arts.