Crimean Tatar activist says psychiatric detainment endangers health
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 4 September 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Crimean Tatar activist says psychiatric detainment endangers health, 4 September 2016, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57db9a8721.html [accessed 21 September 2016] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
September 04, 2016
Ilmi Umerov was charged with separatism in May after he made public statements opposing Moscow's seizure of the peninsula from Ukraine.
A noted Crimean Tatar activist who has been forced into a psychiatric hospital in Russian-occupied Crimea says the conditions he's facing are a threat to his physical health.
Ilmi Umerov, the former deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatars' self-governing body, the Mejlis, was charged with separatism in May after he made public statements opposing Moscow's seizure of the peninsula from Ukraine.
In August, he was forcibly admitted to a psychiatric clinic for a month of assessment tests.
Umerov, 59, spoke to a Reuters reporter who gained access to the hospital in Simferopol, where he's being held.
Umerov, whose relatives and lawyers say he suffers from diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and heart problems, said he had been forced to live in squalid, crowded conditions that endangered his health.
"With this bouquet [of ailments], to be in such conditions is of course dangerous," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
He added that on his fourth day at the clinic he collapsed and lost consciousness.
He also said that he had been barred from speaking to journalists.
Human Rights Watch has urged the Russian-backed authorities in Crimea to drop the charges against Umerov and provide him with necessary medical treatment.
The Moscow-based Memorial Human Rights Center has called the case against Umerov "illegal and politically motivated."
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has compared Umerov's detention to the Soviet-era practice of holding dissidents in psychiatric hospitals.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
