14:51 29.08.2016

Mejlis deputy chair Umerov not released from mental hospital, where he was placed by court – lawyer

3 min read
Mejlis deputy chair Umerov not released from mental hospital, where he was placed by court – lawyer

Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Ilmi Umerov has not been released from a mental hospital, his lawyer Mark Feygin said.

"Together with Ilmi's family we came to the hospital. He was due to be released, but the FSB investigator Skripka changed his mind," Feygin wrote on Twitter on Monday.

As reported, on May 12, investigators at the Crimean branch of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) launched a criminal inquiry against Ilmi Umerov on suspicion of inciting violation of Russia's territorial integrity. The de facto prosecutor of the annexed Crimea Natalia Poklonskaya wrote on her Facebook page that in March 2016, Umerov spoke live on ATR television, where he publicly called for the need to violate Russia's territorial integrity. Subsequently, Umerov's speeches were posted to the Internet.

Investigators of the Crimean FSB Head Department opened a criminal case against Umerov on suspicion of violation incitement of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.

On May 13, the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea opened criminal proceedings under Article 146, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (illegal deprivation of liberty or kidnapping) and Article 162, Part 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the inviolability of property). He is accused of calling for public action to change the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.

On August 11, in Simferopol, the court granted the petition of the FSB investigator on Umerov’s forensic psychiatric examination.

During the court's sitting, an investigator attached the doctor's interrogation report to the case. They indicate Umerov's neurological diseases could lead to psychiatric problems. At the same time, the defense requested an examination by doctors for their client. A neurologist and psychiatrist, who were questioned by the investigator along with the attending physician, testified about the need for a psychiatric examination. According to lawyer Mykola Polozov, the observations of the doctors are probabilistic in nature. No one of them had seen or talked to Umerov, but made their conclusions on the basis of an abstract from a medical card. The court rejected the appeal.

On August 21, Umerov lawyers said that they regarded psychological and psychiatric examination of their client as torture and would appeal to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Umerov's lawyer Mark Feygin said, "We regard psychological and psychiatric examination of Umerov in the state of deteriorating health conducted in the hospital of Simferopol as torture."

The EU has called on the occupational authorities of Crimea to free Umarov.

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