Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiygoz, the deputy heads of the Crimean representative body the Mejilis, both of whom were jailed as political prisoners by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea, arrived in Kyiv on Oct. 27 following their release from jail on the peninsula on Oct. 25.
They flew to Kyiv’s Boryspil International Airport from Ankara, Turkey, where they had been taken after their release, which was negotiated by the Turkish authorities.
During an emotional welcoming ceremony at the airport with Crimean Tatar leader Mustafa Dzhemilev, Mejilis Head Refat Chubarov, and the relatives of the former prisoners, Dzhemilev thanked thousands of people all over the world, presidents Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Petro Poroshenko, Amnesty International, the U.S Department of State and the Parliament Assembly of Europe for helping bring about the release of Umerov and Chiygoz.
“Our release is the start of Crimea’s liberation,” Umerov said.
Chiygoz spent almost three years in jail after being sentenced in 2015 to eight years in prison for actively participating in a pro-Ukrainian protest in Crimea in February 2014, a month before Russia invaded and occupied the peninsula.
Umerov was sentenced to two years in prison for making numerous pro-Ukrainian statements in the media.
Umerov said that Ukraine, as well as its Western partners, should intensify sanctions against Russia so that Russia will have to withdraw from Crimea and Ukraine’s eastern regions voluntarily. The Russian authorities then claimed Umerov was calling for separatism and violence.
Both Umerov and Chiygoz are key figures in the Mejilis. “I’m the happiest person today, because both of my deputies were returned to me today,” Chubarov said.
Umerov and Chiygoz told journalists on their return to Ukraine that they hadn’t asked for a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Two weeks before our release two Federal Security Service officers came to my cell and suggested that I write a plea for mercy, but I refused and they left,” Chiygoz said.
Asked why Russia had decided to release both prisoners to Turkey without even a pardon, Dzhemilev said the release had been a diplomatic move.
“Russia has been trying to change its image for the better in Europe, and has been doing everything to undermine the sanctions regime. But Russia hasn’t changed, it is still the aggressor, we all must fight against,” Dzhemilev said.
“Why Erdogan? Because there are only a few world leaders who still shake hands with Vladimir Putin. And it would be very costly for Putin to lose Erdogan, apparently,” Dzhemilev added.
Chubarov said the Crimean Tatar minority in Turkey had pressed the Turkish president to help the prisoners in an official address they sent to Erdogan on Oct. 6.
“The Crimean Tatar diaspora makes up 6-7 percent of the Turkish population, and they are all very active, influential and helpful,” Chubarov said.
Both Umerov and Chiygoz were very emotional when they reunited with their relatives in Kyiv.
Ayshe Umerova, Umerov’s daughter offered water to her father and hugged him. Umerov looked very touched and happy.
Chiygoz at one point ran into the crowd, found his wife Elmira Ablyalimova, and returned to the journalists with her.
“This is my wife, and she was always next to me, and I haven’t sat with her for a long time,” Chiygoz said offering his wife to sit next him in front of the journalists.
Chiygoz and Umerov said that they were very grateful to all the people from around the world who supported them during their sham trials and imprisonment in Russian-occupied Crimea. “All those letters, protests in support really help us to stay strong,” Chiygoz said.
“Media around the world, who kept highlighting the injustice against us, made a huge contribution to our liberation as well, as they didn’t let the world forget about us. All the Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians there (in prison) felt your support,” he added.
The Crimean Tatar leaders said that they were going to continue their attempts to release all of the political prisoners that the Kremlin has illegally arrested and jailed in Crimea.
Chubarov said more than 36 people are still being held in prisons in Crimea and in Russia.
“And they will be free, and our homeland (Crimea) will return to Ukraine,” Chubarov said.
Addressing the other prisoners, Chiygoz asked them to be strong and not let the Kremlin break them down.
“Believe me, they (the Russians) have been trying hard to do it. But you must stay strong. That will anger them, but in the end, you will win,” Chiygoz added.
After the ceremony at the airport, the released prisoners traveled to central Kyiv for a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko at the Presidential Administration.
Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko welcomes Ilmi Umerov(R) and Akhtem Chiygoz(L), the deputy heads of Crimean representative body Mejilis in Presidential Administration in Kyiv on Oct. 27.(Volodymyr Petrov)
