The prosecutor asked for 17 years in a maximum security colony for the accused in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case.

On July 5, the prosecutor of the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don, Sergei Aydinov, asked Crimean Tatar activist Azamat Eyupov to serve 17 years in a maximum security colony in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. Crimean Solidarity reports this.

The prosecution also asked to place Eyupov in prison for the first three years of his sentence and assign him another year and a half of restricted freedom after his release. Restrictions include prohibitions on leaving the home from eleven o'clock in the evening to six o'clock in the morning; visit places where alcoholic beverages are consumed; travel outside the territory of the municipality; change place of residence or stay and place of work, as well as the obligation to report to the Federal Penitentiary Service.

Azamat Eyupov is accused of preparing to seize power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code using Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and organizing the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). The investigation believes that the man organized a terrorist cell in Belogorsk (Crimea).

The accusation is based on the testimony of anonymous witnesses who stated that Eyupov “was looking for new members for the organization, distributing prohibited literature and preparing for a coup in Crimea.”

The defense claims that Azamat Eyupov’s voice is not on the audio recordings that formed the basis of the charges. Riza and Enver Omerov, previously convicted in the case of the Belogorsk Hizb ut-Tahrir cell, said that they actually held meetings to discuss Islam and politics, but Eyupov did not attend them. None of the believers planned any acts of violence.

Azamat Eyupov was detained and arrested on February 17, 2021 in Belogorsk. Later, the man was transferred to the Rostov region, where his case is being considered on its merits.

In the pre-trial detention center, the accused's health deteriorated. On May 25, Eyupov’s cellmate told the lawyer that he had signs of a stroke or micro-stroke: his arm and leg were functioning poorly, he could not move around the cell. Eyupov was later diagnosed with osteochondrosis. The defense obtained an examination in a hospital, but the man is still in pre-trial detention without the necessary medical care.

• Hizb ut-Tahrir is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. 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.
• According to the Memorial Human Rights Center, as of March 22, 2022, at least 340 people are being persecuted in connection with their involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami. Of these, at least 231 people were convicted, and 176 of them were sentenced to terms of more than ten years in prison. Most of the defendants - 94 people - are from Crimea and Sevastopol. Tatarstan is in second place: at least 81 people from this region are being persecuted in connection with their involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir. In third place is Bashkiria (53 participants).