A citizen of Ukraine, Crimean Servet Gaziev, who is being held in the Russian Federation, was beaten before his discharge from the tuberculosis hospital in Rostov-on-Don, where he was treated after a microstroke, said Ombudswoman of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova.

"They knocked him to the floor, hit him on the back, twisted his arms and shaved his beard. The shameful act against the 61-year-old political prisoner had taken place before he was discharged from the interregional tuberculosis hospital ... The state of health of the Crimean Tatar is of serious concern, because in the Russian remand prison he is not regularly provided with medical assistance, and now his neck also hurts and his hand becomes numb because of the beating by the prison hospital staff," Denisova wrote on Facebook.

According to her, the attitude towards Gaziev "is the Kremlin's revenge for its firm position to speak his native Crimean Tatar language in the pretrial detention center and during court hearings, as well as to constantly defend his rights."

Denisova appealed to Ombudswoman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatyana Moskalkova with a demand to immediately provide Gaziev with the necessary medical assistance, as well as assistance in choosing another preventive measure not related to detention due to his state of health. He also demanded that the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Igor Krasnov give a legal assessment of the criminal actions of the prison hospital workers against the Ukrainian citizen and bring the perpetrators to criminal responsibility.

"I regard such actions against our compatriot as torture, inhuman treatment and violation of Article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms," the Ombudswoman emphasized.

Denisova also appealed to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Chairperson Ann Linde "to stop the arbitrariness of the occupying country, to continue politically sanctioning pressure on the Russian Federation for the immediate release of all Kremlin prisoners."