Imam Makhmud Velitov was sent to a colony in Vologda

Imam Makhmud Velitov, sentenced to three years in prison for speaking during the funeral ceremony of alleged Hizb ut-Tahrir activist Abdulla Gappaev, was transferred to one of the colonies in the Vologda region. RAPSI reports this.

On April 28, the Moscow District Military Court sentenced Velitov to three years in a general regime colony, finding him guilty of justifying terrorism (Part 1 of Article 205.2 of the Criminal Code): allegedly on September 23, 2013, Velitov publicly gave 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 terrorist on the territory of the Russian Federation and is banned, as human rights activists believe, without any basis.

The imam's defense argued that he did not say anything about this organization, as well as Gappaev's membership in it, since he did not have such information. According to the defense, Velitov only performed a religious ceremony in relation to the deceased Muslim.

On July 13, 2017, it became known that Velitov was hospitalized in the internal hospital of the pre-trial detention center with heart pain.

UPD: it later turned out that Velitov was transferred not to a colony, but to a pre-trial detention center.