Crimean human rights activist Riza Izetov, sentenced to 19 years in prison in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, has been kept in a punishment cell on the territory of Penal Colony No. 1 in Yakutia for more than a month. This was reported by Crimean Solidarity with reference to the man’s mother, Nadie Izetova.
The woman received a letter from her son in which he talked about being placed in a punishment cell and problems with receiving the package. “On December 4, Riza received a package, and it has not been delivered to him for more than a month. Due to the long weekend, there is no contact with him,” said the mother of the convict.
In October, it became known that Riza Izetov was transferred to the Yakut correctional colony No. 1, which is located nine thousand kilometers from the man’s home in Crimea. His mother suffers from cancer, and she wrote an application for Izetov’s transfer to a colony closer to home. The other day she went to court with a similar demand. Her claim will be considered by the Krasnogvardeisky District Court of Crimea on January 21.
“Neither I nor my sisters will be able to go to see him in Yakutia - they are all over 70 years old. We won't be able to go that far. I am in remission, but I don’t go far from home. I have a weak immune system and am wary of infectious diseases. <…> I have a feeling that I will not live to see his arrival, I read dua to the Almighty in order to have time to see my son in this world,” Izetova told Nadiya in a conversation with Crimean Solidarity.
In March 2022, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found Riza Izetov, Remzi Bekirov, 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).
Izetov and Bekirov were sentenced to 19 years in prison with the first five years in prison being limited to one and a half years.
Aivazov was sentenced to 17 years, with the first five years to be served in prison and freedom restricted for a year and a half. Umerov was sentenced to 18 years in prison, serving the first five years in prison, with a restriction of freedom for a year and a half, and Bazarov was sentenced to 15 years, serving the first 4 years 10 months in prison, with a restriction of freedom for a period of one year.
The prosecutor's office requested sentences from 16 to 18.5 years in a maximum security colony for the defendants in the case.
- In March 2019, mass searches took place in villages in the suburbs of Simferopol, where Crimean Tatars predominantly live. In addition, 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, each of which was tried in a separate court hearing.
- The publication Crimea.Realii published a text about the Simferopol group in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. All defendants in the case who are in custody, the Memorial project. Support for political prisoners" recognized 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 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.