Emil Kurbedinov was born in Soviet Russia, in the small village of Sauk-Dere in the Crimean district of the Krasnodar region. His parents, Mahsud and Emine, returned here from places of exile for Crimean Tatars in Uzbekistan.

In 2003, Emil obtained a legal education, and four years later he obtained the right to practice law. He began living in Crimea in 2007, where he moved like many other Crimean Tatars who were returning to the homeland of their people. Settling in Simferopol, Emil opened his law office.

After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Russian Federation began to apply its legislation here. In order to have actual access to human rights practice, Kurbedinov had to obtain the status of a Russian lawyer. He became one of the few specialists on the peninsula who engaged in human rights activities in the Russian justice system.

Emil Kurbedinov, Sergey Legostov, and Vagram Shiroian were present at a well-known meeting of relatives of those arrested by Russian "law enforcement agencies" in Crimea with lawyers of the accused in April 2016. Thus, a human rights association was founded, which later received the name "Crimean Solidarity". As one of the coordinators of this association, Emil is in solidarity with people who are persecuted in politically motivated cases. He stands for nonviolent methods of fighting for justice.

During the years of occupation, the illegal authorities only increase pressure and criminal prosecution based on national, religious, and political characteristics. Together with other lawyers, Emil defends victims of political repression. He is the defender of journalists Nariman Memedeminov and Mykola Semena, politician Ilmi Umerov, and Crimean Tatars who were persecuted for participating in the organization ХHizb ut-Tahrir

However, due to such human rights activities, he himself is already being persecuted by the Russian FSB.

The situation is gaining notoriety. Kurbedinov is being talked about not only by Ukrainian, but also by reputable international human rights organizations. However, the occupation authorities continue to persecute even those few lawyers who selflessly ensure the protection of human rights on the peninsula.

In June 2017, Crimean law enforcement officers conducted an illegal search of lawyer Edem Semedlyaev's home.

In November of the same year, investigators threatened criminal prosecution against lawyer Mammet Mambetov.

On January 27, 2018, lawyer Lilia Hemedzhi was blocked in the premises where the "Crimean Solidarity" meeting was taking place.

On October 25, 2018, the so-called "Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Crimea" sent a warning to Emir Kurbedinov regarding the "inadmissibility of violating laws on countering extremist activities and legislation on rallies, demonstrations, marches, and picketing." Later, Kurbedinov was detained again, but this time for a post about "Hizb ut-Tahrir" on the social network "Facebook" in the same year of 2013. The lawyer was deprived of his freedom for 5 days of administrative detention by the decision of the so-called "Kyiv District Court of Simferopol" dated December 7, 2018.

On December 9, 2018, an unknown person tried to break into the office of lawyers Emir Kurbedinov, Edem Semedlyaev, and Lilia Hemedzhi. The window in the room was broken. The lawyers turned to the local police, but the latter limited themselves to formal actions. Neither the perpetrator nor the customer of the attack was ever identified.

On December 18, 2018, the so-called "Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Crimea" informed Emil about an alleged violation of Russian legislation, which excluded his ability to practice law. Thus, first, Kurbedinov was held administratively responsible for the publications he made in 2013, initially on his page on "VKontakte" and then on "Facebook." Therefore, they initiated the deprivation of the possibility to practice law. This is actually a repeated prosecution for one offense. At the same time, the Russian court retrospectively applies Russian legislation to the lawyer's activities, thereby violating the norms of international humanitarian law.

On May 26, 2017, Emil Kurbedinov was awarded the Front Line Defenders International Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. That year, the jury selected 5 finalists out of 142 nominees from 56 countries.

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) is calling for an end to the persecution of lawyers in Crimea. In their study "Lawyers in Occupation," the UHHRU notes that the oppression of Crimean lawyers also occurred through coercion of those detained for political reasons not to seek assistance from independent lawyers. The names of Emil Kurbedinov and Edem Semedlyaev are mentioned among the latter. In order to obstruct them from carrying out their defense work, representatives of the occupation authorities held "conversations" with the head of the lawyers' council where they work.

Even the "Crimean Central Bar Association of the City of Simferopol" expressed disagreement with the letter from the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Crimea dated December 18, 2018, and informed about the lack of legal grounds for excluding Emil Kurbedinov from the members of the lawyers' formation in a letter dated February 22, 2019.

The human rights organization "Human Rights Watch" also spoke out in defense of Emil Kurbedinov and emphasized that few human rights lawyers have the courage to work in Crimea today. The letter from the Russian Ministry of Justice to the Crimean lawyer in the international organization was regarded as one that threatens his profession.

However, the independent legal profession - one of the important elements of a fair justice system - has been destroyed in occupied Crimea. In fact, from the first weeks of the peninsula's seizure, the entire judicial system has been dependent on the illegally established "executive power" here. In a situation where the accused does not have access to lawyers capable of providing professional assistance, there is a gross violation of the right to defense. The accused is left alone with the aggressor state. This unequal position with the prosecution guarantees an unconditional conviction.

Systemic human rights violations are taking place in the newly occupied territories of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, as well as in Crimea. Due to active military actions, Russia has not been able to create a new judicial system everywhere, and arbitrary interference with human rights is taking place outside the judicial process. The application of Russian criminal legislation has allowed Russian investigators imported here to deprive people of their freedom without a court decision and without the right to judicial review of the grounds for deprivation of liberty and the need for further detention. Deprivation of the right to a fair trial does not allow for challenging torture, which has become a status of administrative practice as a means of obtaining self-incriminating testimony.