Free Voices of Crimea: a book about politically imprisoned Crimean journalists published by Vivat

A book of the stories of the Kremlin’s hostages from Crimea was published in Ukrainian. Its English edition will be available this spring. The publication constitutes a joint initiative of PEN Ukraine, The Ukrainians Media, Vivat Publishing House, the Human Rights Centre ZMINA and was supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

The book Free Voices of Crimea is a collection of 16 features of politically imprisoned journalists who fought for human rights and freedom of speech on the occupied peninsula. They filmed search warrants and court hearings in the activists’ cases, launched human rights movements, opposed corruption, were engaged in humanitarian voluntary initiatives, took care about the families of illegally imprisoned Crimean Tatars, covered Russia’s violence against bilateral agreements of the Black Sea Navy, shed light on the truth.

For their activity, Russia imposed 7 to 19 years of jailtime on them, mostly for the alleged "terrorism", "extremism", or "sabotage". The prisoners were horribly tortured to admit their guilt, totally designed by the occupation authorities. This book’s protagonists are mostly Crimean Tatars: for this reason, their stories are accompanied by historical evidence that explains the reasons and origins of the constant resistance of the indigenous people of Crimea against Soviet and then Russian tyranny. The book also contains a documental part including selected letters, extracts from diaries and court speeches of the politically imprisoned journalists.

Protagonists of the book — Asan Ahtem, Amet Suleymanov, Remzi Bekirov, Osman Arifmemetov, Iryna Danylovych, Oleksii Bessarabov, Seyran Saliev, Rustem Sheykhaliev, Server Mustafaev, Marlen (Suleyman) Asanov, Vilen Temeryanov, Ruslan Suleymanov, Tymur Ibragimov, Ernes Ametov, Vladyslav Yesypenko, Nariman Celal.

To purchase the Ukrainian version of the book in either pdf or hard copy, please follow the link or address any Vivat bookstore. The English version, translated by Yevheniia Dubrova and Hanna Leliv, will be available this spring. The book Free Voices of Crimea was published within the PEN Ukraine Library series.

The publication was preceded by the#SolidarityWords, a joint campaign of PEN Ukraine and ZMINA launched in 2021 in support of politically imprisoned authors in occupied Crimea. Within the initiative, Ukrainian writers and journalists became ambassadors of their colleagues held in jails on the occupied peninsula.

"This work of documenting the stories of Crimean hostages of the Kremlin, collecting their friends’ and families’ evidence, and organizing their letters, speeches and diaries has become even more important since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The world wanted to erase the memory of the fact that Russia’s war did begin in 2014 with the occupation of the peninsula. This book is aimed at showing the courage of Crimean journalists, explaining the phenomenon of civic journalism in occupied Crimea, and mostly at advocating these cases abroad to support and seek the release of our colleagues who ended up in Russian prisons for their courage in speaking the truth," says Tetyana Teren, initiator of the book and Board member of PEN Ukraine.

At the first stage, the features of political prisoners were published in the media format. Inna Bereznitska, editor and co-founder of The Ukrainians Media, took responsibility for the project: she coordinated it on the online media and found authors for the political prisoners’ features. Among them are Olesya Yaremchuk, Anastasiia Levkova, Iryna Slavinska, Oleksandra Yefymenko, Eva Raiska, Rustem Khalilov, Yevheniia Henova. They communicated with families and human rights defenders, examined the court materials and letters, and told stories of the political prisoners’ life, detention, and staying in jail.                                        

"It’s of the utmost importance not to simply tell the stories of politically imprisoned Crimean journalists who fought for the freedom of speech on the occupied peninsula but also to share them. The authors of the special project tried to make a complete picture of each protagonist’s story. These stories are very painful but also very life-enhancing," says Inna Bereznitska.

Mustafa Cemilev, Crimean Tatar politician and 15-year-long ex-prisoner of the Soviet regime, wrote the foreword to the book, while Nariman Celal, journalist and politician, deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, and protagonist of one of the sixteen stories included into the book, wrote the afterword. On June 28, 2024, Nariman Celal was released from the Russian captivity. After having received his letters from jail, we’d now anticipated his first letter from the free land.

Anastasiia Levkova, author of the Crimean novel There Is Land Beyond Perekop ("За Перекопом є земля") and co-founder of the literary contest Qırım inciri, thoroughly edited the Free Voices of Crimea and worked on it as an expert in Crimean Tatar topic.

"These are not just stories of separate people but of the whole generation. Though the list of political prisoners includes people of different ages, most of them were born in the 1980s and raised during a big economic, social, and political shift. For them, home means not only Crimea but also democracy, justice, and being honest with themselves," says Anastasiia Levkova.

Journalist Olesya Yaremchuk was part of the book’s editorial team and curator of its English version.

"As we see disinformation and absurd prevailing, we must do our best to tell the truth about Russia’s deeds on the occupied territories, about iniquity and harassment of journalists and activists, about repressions against the indigenous people of Crimea. This we must do with hope that, sooner or later, justice will be restored," says she.

The documentary part of the book is compiled from the materials collected by the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, mostly by human rights activist Nadiia Dobrianska. Hanna Leliv and Yevheniia Dubrova did the translation, while Catherine Parnell provided editorial work. The English pdf copy of the book Free Voices of Crimea will be available this spring.

Feedback on the book:

"These are their voices: the stories of 16 courageous journalists who lost their freedom for their decline to keep silent. Their sacrifice will only be justified when their stories are widespread and their voices heard."

Serhii Plokhy, author of the Russo-Ukrainian War

"A very important book to read. A beam of light that breaks through the Russian lies."

Luke Harding, author of the Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival. 

"This book’s protagonists pay for the freedom of Crimea and Ukraine with their own freedom, health, and lost years of life. Their word takes on a greater weight – a weight of deed."

Vitaly Portnikov, writer and essayist

"This is the word of struggle and another evidence that Russia will never succeed in silencing our people under occupation. These stories willsound even louder from now on, told by thousands of Ukrainians and people from around the globe. When our fellow citizens in Crimea speak about harassment and violence, believe in their release, we must become amplifiers for their voices. We are even stronger when united by the common goal of our victory."

Tamila Tasheva, Head of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (2022-2024)

"Russia has been waging war against Ukraine for 10 years. It all began in February 2014 in Crimea. Dictators enjoy rewriting history: that is why people unwilling to forget the facts, people who call a spade a spade, people who speak out loud even after everyone else is silenced are always their first targets. This book tells the stories of those who got under Russian pressure for being too independent for a country that wants everyone to live by the prison rules."

Pavlo Kazarin, journalist, essayist and military serviceman