March 15, 2025, 10:28 a.m.

Russian Authorities Detain Asan Bay: Calls for His Release Intensify

(Photo: Depositphotos)

In September 2024, Russian security forces detained Asan Bay , a resident of the village of Novodmitrivka, Henichesk district, Kherson region. For seven months, the man has been in a pre-trial detention center, and his relatives are prohibited by the Russian authorities from disclosing information about his detention.

According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Asan Bay was detained at the Chongar checkpoint in September, accusing him of participating in the Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan.

"The detainee's acquaintances say that Asan Bai is a calm and apolitical person, he has never been involved in protests or paramilitary groups. Despite this, Russia has accused him and imprisoned him ," the statement said.

The Noman Chelebidzhikhan Battalion is a volunteer armed formation that was created in early 2016 during the blockade on the administrative border with occupied Crimea. At least 18 people were convicted in the "battalion case" in Crimea.

The Crimean Tatar Resource Center condemns the unjustified repressions against civilians and demands the immediate release of Asan Bay.

"We call on the international community to pay attention to the systemic human rights violations by the occupation authorities and to increase pressure on the Russian Federation to stop illegal detentions," the CTRC added.

Earlier, the occupation court illegally sentenced a member of the Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Chelebidzhikhan to 3.5 years in a strict regime colony. The man was allegedly "provided with firearms and carried out checks of persons and vehicles at checkpoints on the border with Crimea, guarded the facilities of the illegal military formation".

The southern district military court, controlled by Russia, also extended the term of detention for activists from the "fifth Bakhchisaray" group of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia.

According to the Presidential Mission in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as of November 4, the occupiers have illegally imprisoned 218 people on the peninsula, including 132 Crimean Tatars. Of the total number, 43 are arrested (28 of them are Crimean Tatars), 151 are imprisoned (97 of them are Crimean Tatars), and 26 are without status (6 of them are Crimean Tatars).

Олеся Ланцман

You might also like:

March 15, 2025

Crimean Prosecutor Indicts Dzhankoy Resident for Espionage for Ukraine

March 11, 2025

Russian Court Sentences Yalta Resident to 24 Years for Attempted Assassination of Oleg Tsarev

March 9, 2025

Russians Persecute Women in Occupied Crimea: 28 Cases Documented

March 16, 2025

Irina Danilovich Faces Horrific Conditions in Russian Penal Colony

March 13, 2025

Activist Serhiy Tsygipa Transported to Moscow Detention Center Amid Appeal

Ukrainian Soldier Faces Life Imprisonment for Defecting to russia's Army

March 15, 2025

Odesa Discussion Highlights Crimea's 11-Year Occupation and Resistance

Vitaliy Gura Leads Occupation Administration in Nova Kakhovka - SBU Investigation

March 16, 2025

Sevastopol Entrepreneur Oleksandr Selytsky Faces Prison for Collaborating with Russian Occupiers

March 11, 2025

Obolonsky Court Overturns 2004 Murder Conviction After Man Found Alive

March 14, 2025

Ukrainian Police Identify Russian Servicemen Behind Looting in Bilozerka

March 9, 2025

Crimean Political Prisoner Oleksandr Sizikov Denied Medical Care in Prison

March 13, 2025

Iryna Gorobtsova Transferred from Crimea Detention Center Ahead of Appeal

March 10, 2025

Three Former Crimea Judges Sentenced to Up to 13 Years for Treason

Former Mariupol Police Officer Sentenced to 12 Years for Torturing Civilians in Kherson Region