Court of Crimean Prisoner Ruslan Zeitullaev

On February 13, at 11:00 in the North Caucasus District Military Court (Sokovs), a meeting in the criminal case of the Crimean political prisoner Ruslan Zeitullaev, who is accused of terrorism (part 1 of article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) will be held in Rostov-on-Don.

31-year-old Zeytullaev is the main person involved in the first (Sevastopol) case of Crimean Muslims, he received seven years of general regime on charges of membership in Hizb Ut-Tahrir. At the end of December, the collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federationcanceled the verdict , the materials against Zeitullaev were allocated to separate production and were sent for a new consideration.

The sentences to other defendants in the case-33-year-old Frat Saifullaev, 40-year-old Yuri (Nuri) Primov and 30-year-old Rustem Vaitov-each of whom received five years of general regime, were left unchanged.

On the cancellation of the sentence, Zeytullaev was insisted by the prosecutor Andrei Obukhov. He stated that Skovs unlawfully re -qualified the prosecution of Politsyk from part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Russian Criminal Code (organization of activities of a terrorist organization), which provides for a period of 15 years to a lifelong, for other persons, part 2 of the same article (participation in the activities of such an organization), the sanction of which did not exceed 10 years of the colony at the time of the arrest of the convict. In the debate of the parties in Skovs , the prosecutor demanded a 17 -year -old regime for Zeytullaev .

The defense announced numerous procedural violations when considering the case in Skovs. Zeytullaev’s lawyer Emil Kurbedinov emphasized that none of the witnesses testified against the accused regarding the events that took place after the annexation of Crimea. “I believe that this is the case - the reinsurance of the special services before something unknown, to the Crimean Muslims,” the lawyer noted.

In the last word, Zeytullaev emphasized: "I am judged by my thoughts. I will not change them and I will consider that I am right. I am not a terrorist, this is a lie. I am a Muslim, the Crimean Tatar, so they persecute me."

The verdict in the first case of the Crimean Muslims was issued on September 7 by the collegium of Skovs, chaired by Vyacheslav Korsakov . None of the defendants pleaded guilty.