The Crimean Tatar Resource Center continues to talk about family persecution in occupied Crimea and today we want to share with you the story of the Emine Liumanova’s family, from whom the Russian occupiers took away their son Refat Alimov and second cousin Inver Bekirov.
Inver Bekirov was the first to be detained. On February 11, 2016, FSB officers conducted searches in the houses of Crimean Tatars in Crimea, among whom was Inver Bekirov. He was accused of involvement in the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Inver is the most senior political prisoner in the Yalta group of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir case. During the time he spent in the cell, his health deteriorated and even suffered a stroke. On November 12, 2019, the Southern District Military Court sentenced Inver Bekirov to 18 years in a maximum security colony.
On April 18, 2016, searches took place in Krasnokamianka in Crimea, after which the occupiers detained Refat Alimov, also on suspicion of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir. On November 12, 2019, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Refat Alimov to 8 years in prison in a maximum security colony.
Of course, the accusations of the Russian repressive machine have traditionally been based on fabricated evidence: the conclusions of biased experts completely dependent on the Russian occupiers, the testimony of law enforcement officers and hidden witnesses who say only what they were ordered to, but immediately float when they are asked substantive questions.
So, 2 searches, 2 criminal cases, 26 years in a maximum security colony. Isn’t it too much repression for one family?
We believe and know that justice will be restored very soon and one day all the prisoners from this family will definitely return home, and the occupiers will be responsible for the persecution and repression committed against each family member.