Citizen journalist Server Mustafayev faces difficult conditions in Russian custody

Crimean citizen journalist Server Mustafayev has been kept in difficult conditions in a Russian prison since August 2023, his wife Maye Mustafaeva tells the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

"We met in July this year, but visits are only allowed once every six months," says Maye.

According to her, the SDR (strict detention regime) means that her husband can rarely go outside.

Server Mustafayev, photo by Illya Tarasov / Krym.Realii

"He only goes for walks with a convoy and is constantly indoors. He is not allowed to leave the cell," the journalist's wife said.

She added that Server is in solitary confinement, which is detrimental to his health and prevents him from continuing his studies.

She says that the lack of sunlight resulted in Mustafayev developing vitamin D deficiency. Furthermore, his eyesight is deteriorating and his knees still crack, demanding additional examination.

"We sent him orthopedic shoes due to the flat-valgus deformity in his feed, since ordinary shoes do not fit him," said his wife.

The ban on studying was a particularly difficult ordeal, Maye added.

"He really wanted to study, he had enrolled and already completed the first year, but was expelled due to the strict detention regime. We are trying to obtain permission for him to continue his studies, but this is yet to be resolved," she said.

Server Mustafayev is a citizen journalist and Crimean Solidarity coordinator. Reported on politically motivated trials. Arrested in 2018 along with other suspects in the "second Bağçasaray Hizb ut-Tahrir case" in 2018 following a search. Sentenced to 14 years in prison by the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don (Russia) on September 16, 2020. The latest reports say he remains unlawfully detained in the Tambov prison No. 33 in Russia.

He is on the IMI's list of journalists in Russian cutsody.