Two Crimeans were sentenced in the case of the second Bakhchisaray group of Hizb ut-Tahrir

Earlier, Ernest Ibragimov and Oleg Fedorov were each sentenced to 13 years in prison.

On July 12, 2023, the Military Court of Appeal in Vlasikha confirmed the sentence of Crimean residents Ernest Ibragimov and Oleg Fedorov in the case of the second Bakhchisaray group of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

On July 8, 2022, the Southern District Military Court found them guilty of preparing for a violent seizure of power (Article 278 using Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) and participation in a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) - both Crimeans were sentenced 13 years of imprisonment and a year of restriction of freedom. They will spend the first three and a half years of their sentence in prison, and the rest of the term in a maximum security colony.

According to investigators, Ibragimov and Fedorov participated in the work of the radical Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia. It is reported that the case included testimony from classified witnesses, as well as audio recordings of secret meetings. At the same time, according to Fedorov and his lawyers, his voice is not on these recordings - the investigation confused it with the voice of Rustem Murasov, who was arrested in 2021 in a similar case. The latter was ready to confirm this, but it was not possible to interrogate him in court. Other participants in the meeting have already been convicted in the “second Bakhchisarai case” of Hizb ut-Tahrir.

We believe that there were no grounds for banning Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organization, since this party was not known to be involved in terrorism. Accordingly, we regard as unlawful the prosecution of its members under anti-terrorism articles only on the basis of party activities (holding meetings, reading literature, etc.). And the fact that the party preaches the idea of ​​creating a global Islamic caliphate, from our point of view, does not provide grounds for accusing its followers of planning a violent seizure of power in Russia.

Sources

• “This is a manifestation of centuries of Islamophobia.” Ernest Ibragimov's last word in court. Message from the Crimean Solidarity project. 2023. July 13.
• Case card No. 1-28/2022 (1-114/2021;) // Website of the Southern District Military Court. 2022. July 8.
• "45 years for convictions." Three Crimean Tatars were sentenced to decades in prison in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. Message from the Crimean Solidarity project. 2022. July 8.