Detention: On November 23, 2017, security forces in occupied Crimea detained 65-year-old Bekir Degermendzhi along with three other Crimean Tatars — Asan Chapukh, Ruslan Trubach, and Kyazim Ametov. They were charged with extortion, allegedly demanding money from Turkish citizen Yusuf Aytan. The detainees explained they were merely asking for the return of funds stolen from Crimean Tatar national movement veteran Vedzhie Kashka. The 83-year-old Vedzhie Kashka, who witnessed the detentions, experienced a health deterioration on the spot and died in an ambulance.

Sentence: In April 2019, an occupation court sentenced Bekir Degermendzhi to a 3-year suspended sentence. He was released after serving the conditional sentence.

Bekir Degermendzhi was born in 1952. He spent his childhood in deportation, like the entire generation of Crimean Tatars of his time. During his school years, he was interested in equestrian sports and read extensively. He did not pursue higher education as he had to work and support his large family, which included five other children besides Bekir. He met his wife Aliye in 1988. After returning to Crimea, the family acquired a plot in the village of Hrushivka, where there were no roads or gas, and they built a house themselves. Finding work in the early years after returning was difficult for Crimean Tatars: the Degermendzhi family grew vegetables in greenhouses and traded at the market. Later, Bekir worked as a driver and then opened a small hotel in Sudak, where the entire family worked during the summer.

Bekir Degermendzhi was always an active participant in the Crimean Tatar national movement and tried not to miss any events. He took part in the rally on February 26, 2014, in front of the Crimean Parliament building, where Crimean Tatars attempted to prevent an illegal vote on joining Russia.

In the Degermendzhi family, not only Bekir suffered from the occupiers — his son Mustafa was detained in May 2015 on charges of 'mass disturbances' during the same February 26, 2014, rally ('February 26 case'). Mustafa spent nearly two years in a pre-trial detention centre before being placed under house arrest. Thus, the occupation authorities simultaneously persecuted both father and son from the same family.

While in custody, Bekir Degermendzhi's health deteriorated sharply. In December 2017, he was transferred from the intensive care unit to the pulmonology department. His wife Aliye reported that he was lying in a corridor behind a screen, as there were no available places in pulmonology, guarded by three security officers. Human rights defenders considered Bekir's case exemplary: an elder of a Crimean Tatar family facing dual persecution of father and son — a typical example of occupational repression.

Information used from open sources: Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Radio Liberty (Crimea.Realities), Suspilne Crimea, CrimeaSOS, Den, Ukrainska Pravda, Helsinki Union for Human Rights.

Photo: Center for Investigative Journalism.

Last updated: 03.07.2026.