An activist of Crimean Solidarity said that he was beaten by FSB officers during his arrest.

The arrested Crimean Solidarity activist Remzi Bekirov said that during his detention he was beaten by FSB officers. about this with reference to the lawyer Edem Semedlyaev. writes Radio Liberty

On March 27, the FSB carried out mass searches and detentions of Crimean Solidarity activists. Operational measures were carried out as part of a criminal case on participation in the activities of the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir. After that, the court decided to take into custody 23 activists under the article on organizing the activities of a terrorist organization and participating in its activities (Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code).

“We were detained on March 27, around 21-22 hours, in the city of Aksai (in the Rostov region - OVD-Info ), in a cafe. About 10-15 people came in, they immediately threw them down and started beating me. Mostly they beat them on the legs, there was no order to beat them on the head. The only thing is that someone apparently hit Osman Arifmemetov on the head and he lost consciousness. But he was quickly brought to his senses,” Bekirov told the lawyer.

According to Bekirov, they were then handcuffed and taken to the forest, where they were beaten again. After that, they were driven for six hours in handcuffs fastened behind their backs. On the way, the FSB officers threatened the detainees and insulted them.

Lawyer Semedlyav notes that Bekirov has bruises on his legs - traces of beatings. Also, according to the lawyer, all 23 detained activists of the Crimean Solidarity were not given food for a day.

Bekirov and two other defendants in the case were detained in the Rostov region after investigators did not find them in their homes in Crimea. The rest were detained after searches in Simferopol and nearby villages.

Bekirov and four other people were charged with organizing the activities of a terrorist group (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code), the rest were charged with participating in this activity (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code).

All 23 defendants in the case were sent to various pre-trial detention centers in the Rostov region. The whereabouts of 24 detainees, Edem Yayachikov, are still unknown, Crimean Solidarity reports.

• In 2014, Crimea was annexed to the Russian Federation. Many Crimean Tatars were against this - and in subsequent years they became defendants in criminal and administrative cases. OVD-Info told how they decided to unite all "risk groups" in Crimea and came up with "Crimean Solidarity".
• 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.