Detention: On March 27, 2019, a search was conducted at Osman Arifmemetov's home. The next day, March 28, the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol ordered his detention until May 15, 2019, under charges according to Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ('Participation in the activities of a terrorist organization'). He faced up to 20 years of imprisonment. After the search, citizen journalist and activist Osman Arifmemetov was detained. Along with him, Enver Ametov, Rustem Sheykhaliev, Ruslan Suleymanov, and others involved in the so-called second Simferopol Hizb ut-Tahrir case were detained. Russian authorities accused him of participating in the activities of the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, recognized as terrorist in Russia, though it is not banned in Ukraine. Ukrainian and international human rights organizations called the case politically motivated and linked Osman's persecution to his journalistic activities.

Sentence: On November 24, 2022, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Osman Arifmemetov to 14 years of imprisonment. The first four years are to be served in prison, the remainder in a strict regime colony. On February 1, 2024, the Military Appeals Court upheld the sentence. Human rights defenders emphasized that the court provided no evidence of preparation or commission of violent acts, and the charges were based on religious conversations, expert analyses, and testimonies of anonymous witnesses.

Osman Feratovich Arifmemetov was born on August 28, 1985, in the village named after F. S. Frunze, Kalininsky District, Tashkent Region.

In 1990, he moved with his family to Crimea, to the city of Bakhchisaray.

From 1991 to 2002, he studied at Dolynne Secondary School I-III levels in Bakhchisaray District, Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

From 2002 to 2007, he studied at Tavrida National V. I. Vernadsky University, where he obtained a higher education in Mathematics. He qualified as a mathematician, teacher of mathematics and informatics, holding bachelor's and specialist degrees.

From 2011 to 2014, he worked as a programmer at Zharybull LLC.

Since 2015, he worked as a math tutor, preparing students for the Basic State Exam (BSE), teaching programming to children, and instructing them in the Scratch programming language. Together with his students, he planned to create a project for 'Crimean Childhood' to educate children of Crimean political prisoners.

Since 2015, he actively covered searches and court processes as a citizen journalist. He also helped collect parcels for illegally convicted Crimean Tatars in pre-trial detention centers.

In February 2017, Osman served five days of administrative arrest along with nine other Crimean Tatars. They were detained in the Kamyanka neighborhood near Simferopol when they came to support their neighbor Marlen Mustafayev, whose house was being searched by security forces. All detainees filmed the events on their phones and broadcasted live. After their detention, Osman Arifmemetov, Remzi Bekirov, Ruslan Suleymanov, Riza Izetov, Alim Karimov, Valeriy Grygoriev, Seran Murtazaev, Medzhit Abdurakhmanov, Ablyakim Abdurakhmanov, and Enver Tasinov were kept in an unheated bus without food or water from morning until late evening.

On March 27, 2019, a search was conducted at Osman Arifmemetov's home. The next day, March 28, the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol ordered his detention until May 15, 2019, under charges according to Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ('Participation in the activities of a terrorist organization'). He faced up to 20 years of imprisonment.

After his arrest, Osman Arifmemetov spent nearly three and a half years in a pre-trial detention center. The trial took place in the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don. Lawyers repeatedly pointed out that the investigation provided no evidence that Osman prepared or committed violent acts. As in most Crimean Hizb ut-Tahrir cases, the charges were based on covert audio recordings of religious conversations, linguistic analyses, and testimonies of anonymous witnesses. Ukrainian and international human rights defenders emphasized that these materials could not indicate terrorist activity.

On November 24, 2022, the court found Osman Arifmemetov guilty and sentenced him to 14 years of imprisonment. According to the sentence, the first four years are to be served in prison, the remainder in a strict regime colony. On February 1, 2024, the Military Appeals Court upheld this decision. Crimean Solidarity, ZMINA, CrimeaSOS, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, and the Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea called the sentence politically motivated and contrary to international law.

After the sentence came into force, Osman was transferred to Russia. At the end of 2023, it became known that he was moved to Krasnoyarsk Krai, several thousand kilometers from Crimea. Human rights defenders emphasized that such distant transfers are an additional means of pressure on political prisoners and their families, as they significantly complicate visits and the delivery of necessary items.

During his imprisonment, Osman's health noticeably deteriorated. In 2024, it was reported that he lost more than 20 kilograms. According to relatives and lawyers, the reasons were inadequate nutrition, harsh conditions of detention, and lack of proper medical care. Human rights defenders repeatedly called on international organizations to pay attention to his health condition and demanded he be provided with proper treatment.

Despite his imprisonment, Osman did not stop writing. In letters from the pre-trial detention center, he created essays about the lives of Crimean political prisoners, his memories, and reflections. These texts became the basis for the book 'My Deportation. Reports of a Crimean Journalist Written in Pre-trial Detention,' published by ZMINA in 2025. The publication became not only a personal story of the journalist but also a documentary testimony of the persecution of Crimean Tatars after the occupation of Crimea.

As of July 2026, Osman Arifmemetov continues to be unlawfully held in detention facilities in the Russian Federation. Ukrainian and international human rights organizations continue to demand his release, emphasizing that he was punished not for a crime but for his journalistic activities, civic stance, and desire to tell the truth about events in occupied Crimea.

Information used from open sources: ZMINA, Crimean Solidarity, CrimeaSOS, Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, PEN Ukraine.

Photo: Crimean Solidarity.

Date of update: 05.07.2026.