The Moscow City Court left Imam Makhmud Velitov under house arrest

On February 9, the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the Butyrsky District Court to extend the term of house arrest until February 27 to the imam of the capital’s Yardyam mosque, Makhmud Velitov, who is accused of publicly justifying terrorism. This is reported by the "Caucasian Knot".

“The Moscow City Court left the decision of the Butyrsky District Court of December 22 unchanged, and our appeal was dismissed,” Velitov’s lawyer Dagir Khasavov said.

Mahmud Velitov was detained on July 11 and placed under house arrest, because, according to investigators, on September 23, 2013, he publicly delivered a speech in a mosque justifying the activities of activist Abdulla Gappaev, who was killed in Kizlyar. Gappaev was suspected of involvement in the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization that is recognized as a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation and banned, according to human rights activists, without reason.

On December 27, 2016, Velitov’s lawyer, Dagir Khasavov, announced that the investigation had reclassified Velitov’s accusation to a more serious one from part 1 to part 2 of article 205.2 of the Criminal Code (public calls to carry out terrorist activities or public justification of terrorism), adding the use of the Internet as a qualifying sign.

“The investigation changed my client’s article, according to which he is accused of publicly justifying terrorism using the Internet, according to which he could face up to seven years in prison,” Khasavov said.