Crimean journalist Server Mustafayev received the Freedom House Award

Server Mustafayev, renowned Crimean Tatar journalist and political prisoner, jailed in Russia since 2018, was awarded the Freedom House Award.

The journalist was honored for his significant contributions to the protection of human rights and democracy. Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, received the award on his behalf.

Markarova emphasized that it was a great honor for her to receive the award on behalf of Mustafayev. She also expressed gratitude for the opportunity to remind the world about all the Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian prisoners who are being unlawfully held in Russia.

“The recognition is an important reminder of the struggle of Ukraine and the Crimean Tatars against the repression led by Russia. The Kremlin’s crimes against the Crimean Tatars and the genocidal war against Ukraine are a continuation of the unpunished, inhumane policy of the empire of evil, the 1944 deportations, and all other crimes against Ukrainians,” Markarova wrote.

Mustafayev is a renowned Crimean Tatar human rights advocate, activist, and citizen journalist recognized both within Crimea and internationally. He co-founded and coordinates “Crimean Solidarity,” a civil organization formed by relatives and lawyers of Crimean Tatars subjected to political repression and persecution.

Mustafayev was taken into custody in Crimea on May 21, 2018. On September 16, 2020, the South District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced him to 14 years of imprisonment.

Freedom House was founded in 1941 to rally policymakers and a broadly isolationist American public around the fight against Nazi Germany, and to raise awareness of the fascist threat to American security and values. The organization collaborates across political lines to promote policies that uphold democracy and defend human rights.

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Copy editing: Matthew Long