The Crimean court extended the term of detention in a pre-trial detention center for those involved in the Belogorsk Hizb ut-Tahrir case

On March 25, the Kiev District Court of Simferopol extended the term of detention in a pre-trial detention center for three defendants in the Belogorsk case of Hizb ut-Tahrir. This was reported by the Crimean Solidarity movement.

Riza Omerov, Enver Omerov and Ayder Dzhepparov were kept in custody until May 5. The meeting was held behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. They have been in jail since June 2019.

On February 28, defendants in the Belogorsk case of Hizb ut-Tahrir were charged with preparing for a violent seizure of power (Part 1, Article 30, Article 278 of the Criminal Code). Prior to that, they were accused only of involvement in a terrorist organization: Riza Omerov - as an organizer (1st part of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code), Enver Omerov and Aider Dzhepparov - as participants (2nd part of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code).

• In June 2019, were carried out mass searches at the premises of Crimean Tatar activists. After that, several criminal cases were opened.
• Hizb ut-Tahrir is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. Its participants are accused and sentenced to real terms only on the basis that they met in apartments, read religious literature and recruited new participants.

According to a number of experts, Hizb ut-Tahrir is wrongfully recognized as a terrorist organization, since its members in Russia have never advocated violence or prepared terrorist acts.