Four Crimean Tatars were sentenced to terms ranging from 12 to 17 years

The Southern District Military Court sentenced four Crimean Tatars to terms of 12-17 years in the Hizb Ut-Tahrir case. Rustem Murasov, Rustem Tairov, Jebbar Bekirov and Zavur Abdullayev were found guilty of organizing and participating in the activities of a terrorist organization. This is reported by “Krymskaya solidarnost”.

The court sentenced Bekirov to 17 years in prison on charges of organizing the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing to seize power. He will spend the first four years of his term in prison, and the rest in a high-security colony. Tairov, Murasov and Abdullaev were sentenced to 12 years in prison each. They were found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing to seize power. They will also spend the first four years of imprisonment in prison, and the rest of the term in a high-security colony.

Bekirov, Tairov, Murasov and Abdullaev were detained in August 2021 in the Crimea annexed by Russia. Their houses were searched.

Earlier, the Southern District Military Court sentenced Crimean Tatar activist Ernes Seitosmanov to 18 years in a penal colony in connection with the Hizb ut-Tahrir movement. He was found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing for a violent seizure of power.

• “Hizb ut-Tahrir” is an international religious movement of the Islamist variety. It is legal in many countries of the world, but since 2003 it has been banned in Russia, where it is recognized as a terrorist organization.
• After the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Russian authorities began mass persecution of alleged followers of the movement, mainly Crimean Tatars, on the peninsula. Criminal cases against them under articles on terrorism are often initiated only on the basis of religious literature found during searches. At the moment, more than three hundred people are under arrest and in long-term imprisonment. International human rights organizations recognize them as political prisoners. The Crimean Tatars themselves believe that they are being persecuted solely for disagreeing with the annexation of the peninsula.