By Xhabir Deralla
Today, I want to share a story with you. It’s about journalist and civic activist Vilen Temeryanov from Crimea, Ukraine. After the occupation of his native Crimea, he focused on reporting on the repression carried out by Russian occupiers in his village, Vilne, and beyond, in the Dzhankoi district on the Crimean Peninsula. He was a correspondent for Grani.ru, an online media outlet banned in Russia and the occupied territories since 2014. The website is currently inactive due to the lack of conditions for the editorial team to function normally. Vilen is also a member of the civic organization Crimean Solidarity.
Before his arrest in August 2022, which marked the last time he returned home, the occupation authorities had detained him multiple times. One notable incident occurred in November 2021, when he was arrested as a journalist while covering the repression and arrests of Crimean Tatars. Their sole “crime” was greeting lawyer Edem Semedliaiev with flowers upon his release from illegal detention.
JOURNALISTS LABELED AS TERRORISTS: Temeryanov arrested for his journalistic and civic work
Readers may already know that life in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied territories is marked by constant fear and repression. Every piece of information that emerges from these areas reveals an even darker reality than what is publicly known. That’s why the work of our colleague Vilen Temeryanov, and others like him, is vital for shedding light on the situation. At the same time, individuals like Vilen are prime targets of the occupation authorities and the notorious FSB.
Journalists and activists face daily threats from the occupiers – frequent detentions, harassment, and, for some, imprisonment under absurd and fabricated charges, often accompanied by brutal treatment.
Vilen’s story continues with a raid by Russian occupation forces on his home on August 11, 2022, where they conducted a search. The next day, the occupiers placed him in “preventive detention” and falsely charged him with participating in the activities of a terrorist organization. Of course, Vilen’s only “terrorist activity” was reporting on the occupation’s repression against his fellow Crimeans.
Since his arrest, information about Vilen has been scarce. It is known that he was held in a detention center in Simferopol, where he was subjected to forced psychiatric treatment – itself a form of torture prohibited under international law.
PUNITIVE PSYCHIATRY: A horrific tactic from the Soviet era
Russian occupiers in Ukraine have revived a horrifying tactic from the Soviet Union – punitive psychiatry. What does this mean? If you refuse to comply with the occupiers, you are labeled “mentally ill.” This leads to involuntary institutionalization and forced psychiatric “treatment” based on false diagnoses. Victims are subjected to torture through narcotics, isolation, psychological abuse, electroshocks, and other methods.
Tragically, the Russian occupation spares no means in its campaign of repression. Even children have reportedly been subjected to psychiatric torture in the occupied territories. With this in mind, one can only imagine the so-called “treatment” inflicted on journalist Temeryanov after his arrest in August 2022.
It is also known that Vilen was transferred to Russian territory on April 20, 2023, to a detention center in Rostov-on-Don. His trial, along with five other Crimean Tatars, is ongoing and falls under the jurisdiction of the Southern District Military Court. He faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The fact that he is now being tried suggests that the psychiatric “treatment” failed to break him.
TEMERYANOV IS NOT ALONE: A call to free political prisoners
I have shared this information with my colleagues at CIVIL, but I do not intend to stop there. I want to publicly advocate for Vilen and all his colleagues from the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces since 2014.
When I think of Vilen, I think of his native Crimea, which has become a symbol of resilience and pain for me and many others worldwide.
The fate of this journalist and human rights activist is shared by hundreds like him, who pay the price for their dedication to truth and justice. Vilen’s arrest and prosecution in August 2022 serve as yet another reminder of the brutal intimidation and repression tactics employed by Russian occupation authorities against those who dare to expose the truth about occupied Crimea.
Temeryanov is not just a victim; he is a symbol of the courage of Crimean Tatars and all Ukrainians who defend freedom of speech in occupied territories. In Vilen’s own words: “Strong people always emerge in hard times.” But this cannot remain solely his fight or the fight of those currently suffering in Russian police cells, prisons, and camps. Their struggle is our struggle; their bravery is an inspiration to all freedom-loving people worldwide.
That is why I call on all journalists, human rights activists, and citizens of the world to unite in the fight for the release of Temeryanov and all others who suffer unjustly for their courage.
Injustice cannot silence voices, nor can it destroy the spirit that strives for freedom and justice. Russia must immediately release Vilen Temeryanov and all political prisoners.
Freedom and truth will prevail! Freedom for Vilen! Freedom for all political prisoners!
This article first appeared on CivilMedia in Macedonian, on January 20, 2025.
