Dissident and journalist dies in Crimea at 89

The symbol of the Crimean Tatar national movement, a Soviet political prisoner and human rights activist, died in Crimea at the age of 89. She went through arrests, exile and emigration, but continued to fight for the rights of her people until the end of her life.

This was reported by the Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov.

According to him, on June 1, it became known about the death of Ayshe Seitmuratova, a legendary Crimean Tatar activist, human rights activist and dissident of the Soviet era.

"Once again, sad news has come from the Crimea occupied by the Russian Federation, which I do not want to believe - the legendary dissident, political prisoner of the Soviet Union, journalist, historian, veteran of the Crimean Tatar national movement Ayshe Seitmuratova has died at the age of 88," the statement reads.

Chubarov also showed a photo of five people from the generation that "fearlessly joined the fight against the totalitarian regime of the USSR." They are Ayshe Seitmuratova, Zinaida and Petro Hryhorenko, Volodymyr Bukovsky, and Nadiya Svitlychna.

PHOTO: Facebook

According to the Historical Truth resource, in 1964, Ayshe Seitmuratova joined the Crimean Tatar national movement in the Samarkand region and began to actively defend the rights of her people.

She took part in negotiations with the Soviet authorities, including the CPSU Central Committee, but in 1966 she was arrested for the first time and received a three-year suspended sentence on charges of inciting ethnic hatred. In 1971, she was arrested again and sentenced to three years in prison, which she served in Mordovian camps.

After her release in 1974, she did not stop her human rights activities, and in 1978, fearing forced psychiatric treatment, she emigrated to the United States. There she worked as a journalist for Voice of America, Radio Liberty, BBC, and Deutsche Welle, telling the world about the tragedies and struggles of the Crimean Tatar people.

Also, Intent talked to Hromovytsia Berdnyk, a Ukrainian journalist, writer and researcher of traditions, about the legacy of her dissident father, the atmosphere of the first years of independence and the role of culture in the South. The exclusive interview - watch it in full or read it in short: about struggle, truth, family, and the continuity of traditions.

Анна Бальчінос