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"Degermenci's condition is critical. The invaders continue to quietly kill Crimean Tatars. We are expressing [our] protest to the Russian Federation, demand [his] release," she tweeted on January 12.

Read alsoRussian security forces raid Crimean Tatars' two houses in Simferopol, seize religious literatureAs UNIAN reported earlier, several Crimean Tatars were detained in the temporarily occupied Crimea after raids on November 23, 2017. All of them were accused of alleged extortion of money from a Turkish citizen.

Lawyer Edem Semedlyaev said on December 12 that Degermenci, who was remanded in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol, was in a critical condition and needed urgent medical assistance. The activist suffers from asthma and belongs to the third group of people with disability.

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On December 14, according to the lawyer, the activist was transported from the detention center to a local intensive care unit.

Coordinator of the CrimeaSOS public initiative Tamila Tasheva claims that while he was in the intensive care ward, Degermenci was unconscious, he was held handcuffed, and his wife and lawyer were not allowed into the ward.

On January 2, 2018, Degermenci was sent back to the detention center.