Six Crimean Tatars were extended their detention in a pre-trial detention center in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case

On March 20, the Kiev District Court of Simferopol extended for three months the detention in a pre-trial detention center for six Crimean Tatars, who are accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) due to connections with Hizb ut-Tahrir. Crimean Solidarity reports this.

Ekrem Krosh, Aider Asanov, Refat Seidametov, Osman Abdurazakov, Khalil Mambetov and Leman Zekeryaev were detained on January 24 after searches and sent to a pre-trial detention center the next day. According to lawyers, the investigation justified this preventive measure and its extension by the gravity of the “crime”, the possibility of hiding and the fact that the defendants may try to establish the identity of “secret witnesses” in the case.

Asanov’s mother told the Ukrainian publication Graty that during the search, law enforcement officers threw her son to the floor and beat him. The wives of two more of those arrested, in a conversation with journalists, suggested that the security forces could have planted banned books on their husbands.

Some of the defendants are relatives of other political prisoners in Hizb ut-Tahrir cases. So, Ekrem Krosh is the brother of Enver Krosh, and Osman Abdurazakov is the brother of Edem Bekirov. Enver Krosh and Bekirov were detained in August 2022, and both had their arrests extended in December.

On March 23, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don approved the extension of the detention period of Ekrem Krosh, Aider Asanov, Refat Seydametov, Osman Abdurazakov, Khalil Mambetov and Leman Zekeryaev. Crimean Solidarity reports this.

• The Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir was 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 the Information and Analytical Center “Sova” and the project “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” , the party is illegally recognized as terrorist in Russia.
• According to the project “Assistance to political prisoners. Memorial" as of February 23, 2023, at least 334 people are being persecuted in connection with their involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, of which 27 are wanted. At least 253 people were convicted, of which 107 defendants were sentenced to terms of more than fifteen years in prison. In total, Memorial recognized 280 persons involved in cases of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami as political prisoners (233 of them are currently being prosecuted, and 47 of them were released after serving their sentences).