The military appeal court upheld the sentence of five defendants in the second Simferopol Hizb ut-Tahrir case: Rustem Sheykhaliev, Ruslan Suleymanov, Osman Arifmemetov, Enver Ametov and Yashar Muedinov. The decision is available on the court's website.
In November 2022, the Southern District Military Court of Rostov-on-Don found them guilty under articles of participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and preparation for a violent seizure of power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code with note Part 1 Article 30 of the Criminal Code). Ametov and Muedinova were each sentenced to 13 years in prison, with the first four years to be served in prison. Arifmemetov, Suleymanov, Sheikhaliev - 14 years old. The court restricted Ametov’s freedom for a year after his release, and the rest of the men for two years.
The defendants, according to the prosecution, were engaged in militant Islamic propaganda and were also planning a constitutional coup in Crimea. In this case, the investigation also relies on the transcript of the wiretapping. Suleymanov’s defender Lilya Gemedzhi drew attention to numerous errors in the phonoscopy of the wiretap and its translation from the Crimean Tatar language.
Sheikhaliev, Suleymanov and Arifmemetov worked as journalists for Crimean Solidarity before their arrest.
“My husband was a citizen journalist and covered the searches, arrests, pressure and trials of the Crimean Tatars in politically motivated cases. His active position served as a reason for his arrest,” says Suriya Sheykhaliyeva, wife of Rustem Sheykhaliyev.
- 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 SOVA Information and Analytical Center, the party was unlawfully recognized as terrorist in Russia.