The court sentenced ten Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters to prison sentences ranging from 11 to 18 years.

All defendants were found guilty under Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code.

On August 4, 2022, the Central District Military Court found ten supporters of the radical Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia, guilty of CC. 1 and 2 Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code (organization of the activities of a terrorist organization and participation in it). Marat Saibatalov and Alim Timkanov, who were charged under Part 1 of Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code, sentenced to 17 and 18 years in prison respectively, both will spend the first six years in prison. Eight other defendants - Damir Abdrafikov, Ruslan Bariev, Rafis Idrisov, Farrukh Makhkamov, Shakhboz Makhmudov, Turatbek Osmonkulov, Aidar Tashbulatov, Ruslan Fomin - were charged under part 2 of the same article. The court sentenced Bariev to 14 years in prison, Abdrafikov and Fomin - 12, Tashbulatov and Makhmudov - 13, Makhkamov, Idrisov and Osmankulov - 11. All those convicted under Part 2 of Art. 205.5 of the Criminal Code will spend the first five years of imprisonment in prison.

The case went to trial in January 2022. Searches and detentions of all ten took place in November 2019 in Moscow, Tyumen and Tatarstan. It was reported about the use of torture against Makhkamov and Makhmudov.

In 2005, Marat Saibatalov was convicted under Art. 205.1 of the Criminal Code (involvement in the commission of crimes of a terrorist nature or other assistance in their commission) and Part 2 of Art. 282.2 (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). In 2013, the ECtHR ruled on his complaint, agreeing with Saibatalov's arguments about the violation of Art. 7 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states that "no one shall be found guilty of any criminal offense which, under domestic or international law in force at the time it was committed, did not constitute a criminal offence".

We believe that the persecution of members of Hizb ut-Tahrir under anti-terrorist articles only on the basis of party activities (holding meetings, reading and distributing literature, etc.) is unlawful, since, although this organization is recognized as a terrorist organization in Russia, involvement terrorism was not noticed.

Sources

• Inc. inf.