#Free voices of Crimea

Citizen journalist Vilen Temerianov is a professional welder and has worked in construction. He had not been involved in journalism until 2014 when Russia launched a series of repressive actions in the occupied peninsula. It was then that Temerianov decided to become a citizen journalist to quickly and accurately report on human rights violations in Crimea. He does not particularly enjoy writing, and acquaintances describe him as “a man of few words who takes action.”

In political prisoner cases, Russian security services often invent and fabricate “evidence” to create a realistic narrative. This time, they lucked out with a plot, as the “Sevastopol saboteurs” case involved three friends with shared histories

The popular Crimean Tatar saying “Qırımda yaşa” [“Live in Crimea”] became a defining principle for the whole people, meaning that no matter where you are or what happens, you must return to your homeland and preserve your identity

The colony is a very unpleasant and dangerous place, but being next to my husband and children, when the four of us stood together and hugged for the first time, I felt absolute happiness

Even in prison, Ibrahimov seeks ways to find strength and support himself. The first is reading the Qur’an. He has the same one as Dilyara at their home in Bakhchysarai, and reading it is the couple’s way to stay connected

Suriya and the children only managed to settle in the new house in 2015. Sheikhaliev never got to enjoy it with his family. To live in his own house. To hear the laughter of his grandson, who will soon turn one in October 2024

On October 10, 2017, as he returned home, Asanov leaned close to his four-year-old daughter, Safiye, inhaling the familiar scent of her dark hair. He whispered, “I feel for those who have been deprived of their freedom. I want every prisoner to embrace their children and feel their scent as soon as possible”

On a piece of white sheet, he drew with a black pen the wagons in which the Crimean Tatars were deported from Crimea. On each of them are written the years of deportation: 1944 and 2014