A Crimean Tatar, convicted in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, has been sent to a strict-regime punishment cell (EPKT) for six months.

Eskender Abdulganiev, who was sentenced to 12 years in prison as part of the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, has been sent to a single-cell punitive facility (EPKT). This was reported by Crimea Solidarity, citing a lawyer who visited Abdulganiev in colony No. 29 in Kemerovo, a major city in Siberia.

Abdulganiev was transferred to this colony from IK-41 in Yurga, also in Siberia, in mid-May of this year. The reason for the transfer was that IK-41, where the Crimean Tatar had been labelled a “persistent violator,” does not have an EPKT facility.

Both before and after the transfer, Eskender Abdulganiev spent 30 days in a punishment cell (SHIZO) each time. According to Abdulganiev himself, his punishment in the Yurga colony was given to him “just for having pretty eyes.” Taking into account his month in SHIZO, he now has five months left to spend in the Kemerovo colony’s EPKT, until January 2026.

Abdulganiev’s mother, Emine Abdulganieva, said that in colony No. 41, her son was repeatedly issued disciplinary sanctions.

“In Yurga, the rules are such that if you get dressed in the morning, you’re not allowed to change until the evening. Since he undressed to perform ablutions and pray, the colony considered this insubordination. As a result, he was punished again and again. Because of this, he didn’t leave SHIZO,” the woman said.

Before the decision to send him to EPKT, Abdulganiev was not summoned to a disciplinary commission. According to the lawyer, he was “just given the documents to read.”

Lawyer Lilia Gemedzhi believes that by placing the Crimean Tatar in a single-cell facility, FSIN (the Federal Penitentiary Service) wants to “break him, to pressure Abdulganiev.”

He is currently being held alone in his cell and is also taken out for walks alone. In his previous colony, he was banned from calling his family due to the numerous disciplinary actions. Abdulganiev’s mother has been unable to obtain permission for a visit for three years now.

OVD-Info reported in July last year on the pressure faced by the Hizb ut-Tahrir case defendant in colony No. 29. Even then, Abdulganiev was regularly sent to SHIZO.

• Rustem Emiruseinov, Eskender Abdulganiev and Arsen Abkhairov, who were all involved in the Krasnogvardeyskoye Hizb ut-Tahrir case, were arrested in Crimea following searches conducted by the FSB in February 2019. On 3 November 2020, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced them to between 12 and 17 years. Emiruseinov was convicted under the article on organising the activities of a terrorist organisation (part 1, article 205.5 of the Criminal Code), while Abkhairov and Abdulganiev were convicted under the article on participation in a terrorist organisation (part 2, article 205.5). On 1 November 2021, the Military Appeals Court in Vlasikha upheld the sentences given to the Crimean Tatars.
• In March 2024, the Crimean Tatar was transferred from prison to a penal colony. As Crimea Solidarity pointed out, Abdulganiev spent more time in prison than he should have—he should have been transferred to a colony back in 2022. The administration of “Vladimir Central” also refused to allow visits with his relatives and limited his rights to walks, parcels, and phone calls.