Convicted in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, Arsen Abkhairov spent 2.5 months longer than the required sentence in prison No. 2 of Yeniseisk, Krasnoyarsk Territory, due to an error in the court’s explanation. Crimean Solidarity reports this.
The clarification in the verdict of the Southern District Military Court stated that Abhairov would be in prison from November 30, and not from November 3. As a result, differences arose between the court and the prison.
The Southern District Military Court considered the convict’s application for incorrect calculation of the term only on June 5. At the same time, Abkhairov sought a review of the decision on the deadline from September 2023, and he himself was already transferred to IK-8 in Ulan-Ude in January 2024.
In addition, the court made a mistake in the verdict and indicated that it was sending the accompanying letter of explanation to Arthur, and not to Arsen. However, the judge corrected the date of calculation of the term in the ruling, but not the name.
In November 2020, Abkhairov was sentenced to 13 years in prison under the article on participation in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). He had to spend the first two years in prison.
In November 2023, the court rejected the prisoner’s claim demanding that the time spent in the pre-trial detention center be counted toward his prison term. Due to the conditions of Abkhairov’s detention, his health deteriorated . Among other things, the Crimean resident developed varicose veins due to constant standing on his feet, and also began to have problems with his teeth. The believer was denied qualified medical care.
- 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 project “Support for political prisoners. Memorial” , the party is illegally recognized as “terrorist” in Russia. The SOVA Research Center believes that its ban was not without reason, however, persecution due to involvement in this party in the absence of charges of other terrorist crimes often leads to the imposition of disproportionately harsh punishments.
- According to the project “Assistance to political prisoners. Memorial" on March 11, 2024, at least 320 people are being persecuted in connection with their involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, of which 24 are wanted. At least 271 people were convicted, of which 115 defendants were sentenced to terms of more than fifteen years in prison. In total, Memorial recognized as political prisoners 289 persons involved in cases of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (238 of them are currently being prosecuted, 54 of them were released after serving their sentences, and one person died).