By Xhabir Deralla

August 11, 2026, marks four years since the arrest of Vilen Temeryanov, a Crimean Tatar journalist, political prisoner, and one of the voices that the Russian occupation authorities are trying to silence with prison, fabricated charges, and cruel repression.

Temeryanov was arrested on August 11, 2022, in occupied Crimea and charged with “terrorism” in a fabricated case. His real “offense” was journalism: he went to the locations of house searches of Crimean Tatars, filmed the raids with a mobile phone, reported as a journalist for “Crimean Solidarity” and the outlet “Grani”, and regularly followed the trials of political prisoners.

The Russian occupation machinery called this a “danger”. In fact, the danger to the occupier was not Vilen. The danger was the truth.

Four years of injustice

Vilen Temeryanov was born on January 16, 1985. He is a Crimean Tatar, a husband, and a father of three children. His youngest son has a severe heart condition and, at the age of six, has already undergone three surgeries, with another complex intervention expected. Vilen was granted custody of his son precisely because of the child’s disability.

During his captivity and imprisonment, his mother and sister passed away. The Russian authorities did not allow him to attend either of the funerals.

This is the cruelty of an entire system – a brutal state retaliation against those who dare to speak the truth. This is a punishment not only for the journalist, but also for his family. It is a method of breaking a person through pain, isolation, uncertainty, and the deprivation of the most basic human rights.

Under prison conditions, Temeryanov’s health has significantly deteriorated. According to information provided by Ukrainian sources, his eyesight has rapidly declined, so he relies on glasses sent by his relatives. He also requires dental care. He remains in SIZO-1 in Rostov-on-Don, a Russian investigative prison and detention center that, in the context of the war, is cited as one of the places where Ukrainian civilians, prisoners of war, and political prisoners are held.

On November 26, 2025, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Vilen Temeryanov to 14 years in a strict-regime penal colony, with the first three years to be served in a prison – the harshest form of isolation in the Russian penitentiary system. He was convicted under Article 205.5, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, for alleged “participation in the activities of an organization declared terrorist” under Russian law.

That is not justice. That is an occupation verdict. It is retaliation against journalism. It is political persecution disguised as a judicial proceeding.

Crimean Tatars, a target of the occupation regime

Vilen Temeryanov’s case is not unique. It is part of the systematic persecution of the Crimean Tatars, the indigenous people of Crimea, who have been among the communities most severely affected by the Russian occupation since 2014.

The Russian occupation of Crimea is not merely a military-political act. It is a mechanism of control, intimidation, erasure, and the forcible reshaping of public life. It attacks identity, religion, language, culture, political representation, civic resistance, and free speech.

The house searches of Crimean Tatars, the fabricated charges of “extremism” and “terrorism”, the lengthy prison sentences, the trials before Russian military courts, and the transfer of prisoners far from Crimea are all part of the same repressive pattern.

The occupier wants to turn Crimea into a space without witnesses. That is why they persecute journalists, civic activists, lawyers, religious and community leaders, families of prisoners, and anyone who dares to say that Crimea is Ukraine.

Vilen Temeryanov is persecuted because he reported from occupied Crimea, because he testified to the repression against the Crimean Tatars, and because his journalism reminds the public of the truth that Moscow is trying to erase: Crimea is Ukraine.

Journalists, a target of Russian aggression

I have been writing about Vilen Temeryanov for a long time, demanding freedom and justice for our colleague. CIVIL has repeatedly and strongly condemned the Russian reprisals and military-judicial persecution against Vilen Temeryanov and all journalists reporting on Russian crimes, the occupation, political prisoners, torture, enforced disappearances, and human rights violations in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Journalism is not a crime. Documenting a search, trial, disappearance, imprisonment, or abuse is not terrorism. On the contrary, it is in the public interest, a professional and human duty.

The Russian Federation, with its aggression against Ukraine, is also waging a war against the truth. In this war, journalists are being arrested, kidnapped, held in captivity, abused, convicted in fabricated trials, and killed.

The name of Victoria Roshchyna remains one of the most painful testimonies to the immense brutality of the Russian occupier. The Ukrainian journalist, who reported from the occupied territories, was held in Russian captivity and did not return alive. Her death, the confirmed signs of torture, and the fact that her body was returned with missing organs serve as an indictment against the entire Russian system of aggression, occupation, and brutal crackdowns on civilians. The world must not remain silent in the face of the cruel practices of kidnapping, secret detention, isolation, torture, and inhumane treatment of civilians and journalists.

Temeryanov is alive, but he is behind bars. Roshchyna was killed in Russian captivity. Other journalists and media workers are still held in Russian prisons and camps. Their names must not disappear from the public eye.

Vilen Temeryanov is one of the Crimean political prisoners mentioned in the annual resolution of the United Nations General Assembly on the situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, adopted on December 17, 2024.

As a public advocate for the release of Vilen Temeryanov, I demand his immediate release from Russian captivity and prison. I demand this also on behalf of CIVIL – Center for Freedom, a human rights organization, the CIVIL MEDIA Editorial Board, as well as the Global Initiative to Defend Democracy and the Westminster Alliance for Ukraine. I publicly call for international solidarity with our colleague Vilen and with all Ukrainian journalists and political prisoners – victims of Russian aggression and occupation.

This public call is not merely an act of solidarity. It is part of the fight for media freedom, human rights, justice for Ukraine, and accountability for Russian crimes.

Therefore, once again and without hesitation: I demand the immediate and unconditional release of Vilen Temeryanov. I demand freedom for all Ukrainian journalists, media workers, and political prisoners in Russian captivity. I demand justice for Victoria Roshchyna. I demand accountability for the Russian Federation.

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