Detention: On April 26, 2018, in occupied Crimea (Bilohirsk), Russian security forces conducted extensive searches at 33 locations, including the stores of the Crimean retail chain 'Guzel' and the distribution company 'KrymOpt', as well as the homes of entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and activists of the Crimean Tatar movement. Searches were conducted at the homes of Ali Bariev, Asan Bariev, the Velilyaev brothers, and their adult children. After an interrogation lasting over three hours at the Investigative Committee of Russia for Crimea, Ali Bariev and Resul Velilyaev were arrested and unlawfully transferred from Crimea to Moscow's Lefortovo pre-trial detention centre.

Sentence: Bariev and Velilyaev were charged under Article 238 of the Russian Criminal Code ('storage or sale of goods not meeting safety requirements, by a group of persons by prior conspiracy'; up to 6 years imprisonment). Human rights defenders consider the case fabricated and link it to pressure on Crimean Tatar businesses.

On April 24, 2019, Resul Velilyaev was released under travel restrictions. On July 24, 2019, lawyer Djemil Temishev reported that Ali Bariev was also released from Lefortovo under similar conditions; like Velilyaev, he remained in Moscow pending the investigation and trial. On March 19, 2020, the court sentenced Bariev to a fine.

Ali Mustafayevich Bariev was born on July 5, 1975. A resident of Bilohirsk, he is the executive director of the company 'KrymOpt'. He has four young children. The human rights center 'Memorial' recognized him as a victim of political repression and included him in its registry of persecuted individuals.

Eskender Bariev, head of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center (a namesake), noted that this criminal case has a clear political context: the persecution of Ali Bariev and Resul Velilyaev is part of a targeted pressure campaign against Crimean Tatar entrepreneurs and philanthropists, particularly those financing the development of Crimean Tatar culture. According to the Mejlis, the occupation authorities are intensifying pressure on Crimean Tatar businesses to push them out of Crimea's economic space.

Resul Velilyaev is Bariev's business partner, a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist in Crimea, and the founder of the Bekir Çoban-zade Foundation, which supported the intellectual and creative elite of the Crimean Tatar people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the April 2018 searches discriminate against Crimean Tatars and expressed intent to bring the case to international courts to prove Russia's crimes in Crimea.

Information used from open sources: Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Ukrinform, CrimeaSOS, Center for Journalistic Investigations.

Photo: Center for Journalistic Investigations.

Updated: 07/03/2026.