In brief
The defendants deny terrorism charges and say they face politically motivated persecution on ethnic and religious grounds.
A Russian military court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced six Crimean Tatars to between 15 and 19 years in a case involving alleged links to Hizb ut-Tahrir, Novynarnia reported on October 21. It cited Suspilne Crimea, which attributed the information to relatives and Crimean human rights sources.
Ruslan Asanov received 19 years and Remzi Nimetulaiev 18. Seidamet Mustafaiev, Ametkhan Umerov, Eldar Yakubov and Abdulmedzhyt Seitumerov each received 15 years. Asanov and the four men sentenced to 15 years must spend their first four years in prison before serving the remainder in strict-regime penal colonies, according to the report.
The men, who attended by video link, rejected accusations of terrorism and preparation for a violent seizure of power. They said the prosecution was politically motivated. Russian security forces detained all six after searches in Bakhchysarai in occupied Crimea on August 24, 2023.
Russia designated Hizb ut-Tahrir a terrorist organisation in 2003 and extended its laws to Crimea after occupying the peninsula in 2014, Novynarnia reported. The publication said human rights defenders regard such prosecutions as a tool of political and religious persecution. Its report did not specify whether the sentences had been appealed.