Detention: On May 12, 2016, FSB officers detained Ilmi Umerov and initiated a criminal case against him under Part 2 of Article 280.1 of the Russian Criminal Code (“public calls for actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation”). The basis was his interview with ATR TV channel, where he stated that Russia should leave Crimea and Donbas, and the occupied territories should be returned to Ukraine. The Russian side claimed these statements called for violating Russia's territorial integrity, while Umerov emphasized that he was expressing a position consistent with international law and Ukraine's official stance. He also noted that his words were deliberately mistranslated and misinterpreted.

Sentence: On September 27, 2017, the Russia-controlled Simferopol District Court found Ilmi Umerov guilty under Part 2 of Article 280.1 of the Russian Criminal Code and sentenced him to 2 years in a settlement colony with a ban on public activities for 2 years after release. In his final statement, he declared he did not acknowledge guilt, highlighted the illegality of Crimea's occupation, and said, “See you in The Hague.”

Ilmi Umerov is a Ukrainian Crimean Tatar political and public figure, a doctor by education, and Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People. He was born on August 3, 1957, in deportation in Uzbekistan. After the return of Crimean Tatars to Crimea in 1988, he actively joined the national movement. Over the years, he served as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimean government, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and Head of the Bakhchisaray District State Administration. After the occupation of Crimea in 2014, he openly refused to recognize the Russian annexation, called for a boycott of the illegal “referendum,” and left public service, stating he could not work under occupation. Since 2015, he has been Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.

In August 2016, a Russia-controlled court sent Umerov for compulsory psychiatric evaluation, where he was held for 21 days against his will. This decision drew widespread international condemnation from Ukraine, the European Union, the USA, international human rights organizations, and the human rights community, who viewed it as a revival of punitive psychiatry practices. Despite severe health conditions—Parkinson's disease, diabetes, hypertension, and previous heart bypass surgery—criminal prosecution continued. Lawyers repeatedly stated that real imprisonment could threaten his life.

After the sentence was passed, Umerov's health deteriorated, and he was hospitalized with a hypertensive crisis. In October 2017, the Supreme Court of Crimea upheld the sentence. On October 25, 2017, through the mediation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ilmi Umerov, along with Akhtem Chiygoz, was transported from Crimea to Turkey, from where they arrived in Ukraine. Umerov emphasized that he did not consider this a pardon or exchange, as he did not appeal to the Russian President for clemency and did not acknowledge his guilt. According to him, Russian security forces tried to force him to sign a corresponding request, but he refused.

Ilmi Umerov is married. Together with his wife Meryem Umerova, he raised three children. His daughter Ayşe Umerova became one of the main public spokespersons for the family during the criminal prosecution, informing about her father's health, his forced placement in a psychiatric hospital, and the trial process. She repeatedly stated the political nature of the case and emphasized that the persecution aimed to suppress the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.

The case of Ilmi Umerov became one of the most high-profile examples of political persecution of Crimean Tatar national movement leaders after Crimea's occupation.

The persecution of Umerov is linked solely to his consistent public stance on non-recognition of the Russian occupation of Crimea and the defense of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Information used from open sources: Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Ukrayinska Pravda, Hromadske, ZMINA, CrimeaSOS.

Photo: Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.

Last updated: 09.07.2026.