A court in Rostov-on-Don imposed long sentences on two defendants in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case.

The North Caucasus District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don sentenced the defendants in the second Sevastopol Hizb ut-Tahrir case, Nematjon Isroilov and Akramjon Abdullaev, to 13 and 15 years in a maximum security colony. This was reported by a Grani correspondent who attended the hearing in the courtroom.

The panel of the court found citizens of Kyrgyzstan Isroilov and Abdullaev guilty of violating part 2 of article 205.5 (participation in the activities of a terrorist organization) and part 1 of article 205.1 (involvement in terrorist activities). According to the case materials, the convicts, under the guise of labor migrants, from November 2014 to August 2018, with the aim of creating a global caliphate, “deliberately carried out hidden anti-Russian, anti-constitutional activities in the form of propaganda work among the population.” The prosecutor's office requested 15 years in a maximum security colony for Isroilov, and 16 years for Abdullaev.

Abdullaev and Isroilov did not admit their guilt. “We did not oppose the state system and did nothing against the public,” Isroilov noted at the trial. Akramjon Abdullayev stated at the meeting that the cases were falsified and they were being persecuted for their religious views.

According to Grani, the second Hizb ut-Tahrir case in Sevastopol was opened on August 23, 2016. Two days later, Abdullaev and Isroilov were detained and then placed in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Simferopol. After some time, they were transported to Rostov-on-Don, where court hearings were held.

The main witness in the case is an ethnic Arab named Adnan Masri. “Grani” writes that the evidence given by him during the investigation was added to the case materials, although it differs from the information he provided during interrogation in court. The case contains conversations that Masri recorded on audio. According to the conclusions of linguistic examinations made on the basis of the recordings, Abdullaev and Isroilov involved people in the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Experts also said that the statements “contain a negative assessment of Presidents Putin and Assad.” According to the Facets, Masri was probably a witness in the previous Sevastopol case of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

• In September 2016, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found four Crimean Tatars guilty of organizing the activities of a terrorist organization in the city of Sevastopol - the Hizb ut-Tahrir cell. The four defendants in the case were sentenced to 5 to 7 years in a general regime colony.
• Hizb ut-Tahrir is recognized as a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation. Cases of terrorism have been opened in different regions of the country, while members of the organization’s cells are accused and sentenced to various terms in a maximum security colony only on the basis that they met in apartments, read religious literature and recruited new members.
• OVD-Info monitor the affairs of Hizb ut-Tahrir. We recently looked into the Ufa case and wrote about those involved.