Political prisoner from Crimea needs urgent dental care

56-year-old Crimean Tatar activist Shaban Umerov needs urgent dental care and dentures,

According to the Crimean Solidarity, this was reported by the wife of the prisoner Zarem Umerov, who visited her husband in a penal colony in Murmansk in February.

According to her, Shaban Umerov has only about five teeth left in his upper and lower jaws, which makes it difficult to chew food properly. He needs prosthetics on both jaws. Earlier, in July 2025, he had already reported the need to consult an orthodontist.

In addition to dental problems, Umerov suffers from hypertension and frequent headaches. According to his wife, even with medication, the symptoms do not disappear, and the climate and lack of fresh air in the colony worsen her husband' s health.

Shaban Umerov was detained on March 27, 2019, during massive searches in the homes of Crimean Tatars in Crimea, along with more than twenty other activists. In March 2022, the Southern District Military Court sentenced him to 18 years in prison.

Human rights activists emphasize that Shaban Umerov did not have any weapons or explosives on him, did not plan terrorist attacks and did not call on others to commit violent acts. His case is considered politically motivated and part of the systematic persecution of Crimean Tatars on the temporarily occupied peninsula.

The stateof health of Umerov is a matter of serious concern for human rights activists, who call for the provision of necessary medical care.

In general, human rights defenders document large-scale repressions in the occupied Crimea in 2025: hundreds of detentions, searches and cases of unfair court decisions indicate a systematic violation of basic freedoms for Crimeans, especially the Crimean Tatar people.

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