The court approved the verdict for the defendants in the second Simferopol case of Hizb ut-Tahrir

The military appeal court in Vlasikha near Moscow confirmed the sentences of the defendants in the second Simferopol Hizb ut-Tahrir case, Shaban Umerov, Raim Aivazov, Remzi Bekirov, Farkhod Bazarov and Riza Izetov. Crimean Solidarity reports this.

“An hour in the deliberation room was enough for the court to weigh all the evidence and analyze the materials of the criminal case, which contain about a hundred volumes,” said lawyer Nazim Sheikhmambetov.

In March 2022, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found Remzi Bekirov, Riza Izetov, Shaban Umerov, Raim Aivazov and Farkhod Bazarov guilty of attempting to seize power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code using Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code). In addition, Bazarov was found guilty of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code), and the other four were found guilty of organizing such activities (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code).

The court sentenced human rights activist Riza Izetov and Crimean Solidarity and Grani.ru correspondent Remzi Bekirov to 19 years in prison with the first 5 years served in prison and a year and a half limitation. Local activist Raim Aivazov - to 17 years, with the first 5 years in prison and a restriction of one and a half years. The court sentenced Shaban Umerov to 18 years of imprisonment, with the first 5 years to be served in prison, with a limitation of one and a half years, and Farkhod Bazarov - 15 years, with the first 4 years and 10 months to be served in prison, with a limitation of freedom for a period of one year.

The prosecutor's office requested sentences from 16 to 18 and a half years in a maximum security colony for the defendants in the case.

• In March 2019, massive searches took place in villages in the suburbs of Simferopol, where Crimean Tatars predominantly live. Then FSB officers detained several people in Rostov-on-Don. In total, 29 Crimean Tatars are involved in the second Simferopol case. Four are wanted, the rest are in custody. Before the case was brought to court, the accused were divided into groups of five, and the case of each group was considered in a separate court hearing. The publication “Krym.Realii” published a detailed report about the Simferopol group in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. All the defendants in the case who are in custody were recognized by the Memorial Human Rights Center as political prisoners. In 2022 and early 2023, all of them were sentenced to terms of 12 to 19 years in a maximum security colony. One of the convicts, Dzhemil Gafarov, died in custody in February 2023.
• 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.