Crimean political prisoner Appaz Kurtamet reported on new conditions in the Russian colony.

Political prisoner from occupied Crimea, Appaz Kurtamet, who is currently held in a penal colony in the village of Sosnovy Bor in the Pskov region of Russia, has established contact with his family and shared details about his living conditions.

This was reported by ZMINA, citing the mother of the prisoner, Aishe Kurtamet.

Appaz's mother mentioned that her son has come out of quarantine and has now been granted the right to make phone and video calls: “He can call anyone who has a Russian number. The limit is 15 minutes a day, sometimes two times for 15 minutes.”

She also informed that Appaz is not allowed to study programming due to a verdict from a Russian court under a political charge, but he has been given the opportunity to work.

“Appaz immediately found a job, earning 1,000 rubles a month, which is effectively unpaid labor. Therefore, he now has less time for self-development – reading books and learning English is only possible on weekends,” – said the mother of the prisoner.

Despite this, Appaz reported that the conditions in the colony are better than those in the places of confinement where he was illegally held for two and a half years. For instance, he has the chance to be outdoors, which was not available in the Crimea's pre-trial detention centers and the Vladimir central jail.

“Appaz is kept in barracks with 20-30 other people. But it has become a bit easier now – at least he has the opportunity to talk, hear the voices of his loved ones, and even see them through video calls. My son is very optimistic; he speaks with hope about the end of the war in the near future and believes it will be just for Ukraine,” – added the mother of the political prisoner.

It is worth noting that before the full-scale Russian invasion, 22-year-old Appaz Kurtamet worked at an IT company and taught the Crimean Tatar language at the Odessa Crimean Tatar Cultural Center. In July 2022, he was unlawfully detained by the occupiers in the village of Novoalekseevka in the Kherson region. In April 2023, Appaz was sentenced to seven years for allegedly financing terrorism, specifically for supporting a Ukrainian volunteer battalion.

Earlier, ZMINA reported on the eight-year sentence of Appaz's father, 58-year-old Khalil Kurtamet, who was accused of involvement with the volunteer battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan.