Zevri Abseitov
Zevri Abseitov (born August 12, 1975) is a Crimean Tatar from Ukraine and a dentist by training. He studied at Sergiy Georgievsky Crimean State Medical University, worked at a local hospital, and ran his own dental office in Crimea before his arrest.
In May 2016, Abseitov and three other Crimean Tatars—Remzi Memetov, Rustem Abiltarov, and Enver Mamutov—were arrested in Bakhchysarai after Russia annexed Crimea. They were charged with involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir, an Islamic movement that Russia calls a terrorist organization (in Ukraine Hizb ut-Tahrir is legal). Russia also charged them with planning to violently seize power. The four men were held in Simferopol for about two years before being moved to Rostov-on-Don in 2018 for trial.
The case relied largely on testimonies from three secret witnesses, and one witness gave an inconsistent account. On December 24, 2018, a court convicted them: Enver Mamutov received 17 years in a high-security prison plus 1 year and 6 months of supervised release; Abseitov, Memetov, and Abiltarov were each given 9 years in a high-security prison plus 1 year of supervised release.
On July 11, 2019, the Russian Supreme Court reduced these sentences: Mamutov to 16 years and 9 months, and Abseitov, Memetov, and Abiltarov to 8 years and 9 months. Abseitov is serving his term in a high-security prison in the Stavropol region (FKU IK-1).
Abseitov has a wife, Fatma, and four children who live in Crimea. The case drew international criticism, with human rights groups and some governments saying it was politically motivated and aimed at Crimean Tatars. Supporters call him a political prisoner, and campaigns have used hashtags like #freeAbseitov and #LetMyPeopleGo.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:34 (CET).