Russian court declines Marlen Asanov's request to be moved to a prison closer to Crimea
Citizen journalist Marlen Asanov. Photo by Crimean Solidarity
The Russia-installed Bağçasaray District Court in Crimea refused to move political prisoner Marlen (Suleyman) Asanov from penal colony No. 7 in Sosnovka village (Republic of Mordovia, Russia), to a colony closer to Crimea, where his family lives, reports the initiative "Crimean Solidarity".
Asanov's case was heard by the "court" on August 9, says the lawyer Nazim Sheihmambetov.
The citizen journalist and former businessman, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison, explained in court that arranging meetings with relatives is now difficult for him for two reasons: the family has to travel the distance from Crimea to Mordovia (over 1,700 kilometers) and then back, and the trips are a considerable financial undertaking for them.
The defense disagrees with the Bağçasaray District Court's refusal and will fille an appeal as soon as they receive the full text of the ruling. According to lawyer Nazim Sheihmambetov, the judgement "is not based on the law."
In the summer of 2023, Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS) dismissed the appeal by lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, who demanded that Asanov be transferred to a different prison close to Crimea.
Lawyer Nazim Sheihmambetov tried to challenge the FPS's refusal and filed a motion in the Bağçasaray District Court, by Asanov's place of residence.
The court accepted this lawsuit and even started hearing it, but at the request of a FPS representative, it was passed on to a court in Mordovia "by the place where Marlen Asanov is serving the term."
After an appeal, the case returned to Bağçasaray again, but to a different judge. No FPS representatives showed up for the hearing.
Marlen (Suleyman) Asanov is a citizen journalist, a Crimean Solidarity volunteer. He has been helping families of political prisoners, attending court hearings in politically motivated cases, and posting videos of home searches on his YouTube channel since 2014.
On October 11, 2017, the Russian FSB detained six Crimean Tatars in the temporarily occupied Bağçasaray: Timur Ibrahimov, Marlen (Suleyman) Asanov, Memet Belyalov, Seyran Saliyev, Server Zekiryaev, and Ernes Ametov.
On September 16, 2020, the Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don (Russia) passed the judgement in the second "Hizb ut-Tahrir" case in Bağçasaray. The Crimean Muslims were sentenced to 13 to 19 years in prison.
Help us be even more cool!
