The Metallurgical District Court of Chelyabinsk issued the release order on 26 October, according to the activist's wife, Aliye Kurtametova. The decision was withheld from publication until Abdulgaiziev had returned to Crimea to his family, Crimea.Realities and OVD-Info reported.
Abdulgaiziev was detained in annexed Crimea on 27 March 2019 and accused of participating in Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia, and of preparing a violent seizure of power. In May 2022 the Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don sentenced him to 12 years in a strict-regime colony, the first five of which he was to serve in prison.
In March 2024 Abdulgaiziev was transferred in serious condition to the intensive care unit of a prison hospital. He was diagnosed with a severe form of tuberculosis, bilateral pneumonia, fluid in the lungs, anaemia, chronic heart failure, and kidney and heart disease. In August that year a court refused to release him on health grounds.
In autumn 2025 he began to lose his sight, and in December he was found to have a malignant brain tumour. He later began suffering fainting fits and problems with coordination and walking. In September 2026 he suffered a mini-stroke, and that same year a new case was opened against him, for contempt of court.
Refat Chubarov, head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, said a medical commission had established as early as 26 February 2026 that Abdulgaiziev had an illness preventing him from serving his sentence. The documents were sent to court the same day, but instead of being released the political prisoner was sent for a repeat medical examination. On 29 July a medical commission again confirmed that his state of health did not allow him to be held in custody. Chubarov described the eight months as artificial delays.
The activist's wife wrote that in 2019 a healthy, strong man had been sent behind bars, and that a man whose health had been severely undermined over the years of imprisonment had walked free. According to her, Tofik faces a difficult and long path of treatment and recovery. Chubarov said that after returning to Crimea Abdulgaiziev is barred from leaving his place of residence.