New indictment brought against Mamutov, defendant in Bakhchysarai “Hizb ut-Tahrir” case

Enver Mamutov, defendant in Bakhchysarai “Hizb ut-Tahrir” case, was served a new indictment in “attempt at forcible seizure of power”.

As reported by lawyer Emil Kurbedinov on his Facebook page.

“Today, on April 20, Enver Mamutov, from the Bakhchysarai Quartet as a part of the so-called “Hizb ut-Tahir” case, was charged under Article 278 of the Criminal Code – an attempt to forcibly seize power in Russia and change the Constitutional order! All the accused in this case might face the same charges!”, – he wrote.

Earlier, on April 9, the “court” in Crimea extended the term of arrest to the defendants in the Bakhchysarai “Hizb ut-Tahrir” case for one additional month.

As a reminder, on May 12 last year, in Bakhchysarai the Russian security forces conducted a series of searches in the homes of Muslims, as well as at a local cafe. As a result, four Bahchisarai residents, Zevri Abseitov, Remzi Memetov, Rustem Abeltarov and Enver Mamutov were detained and accused of terrorism and involvement in the organization “Hizb ut-Tahrir”, which is recognized as terrorist in the Russian Federation.

Defenders of arrested and convicted Crimean residents in the “Hizb ut-Tahrir” case consider their persecution to be motivated on religious grounds. Lawyer Emil Kurbedinov notes that in this case the Russian law enforcement bodies are mostly pursuing Crimean Tatars, as well as Ukrainians, Russians, Tajiks, Azerbaijanis and Crimean residents of another ethnic origin who profess Islam.

Representatives of the International Islamic political organization “Hizb ut-Tahir” called its mission to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate. However they reject all kinds of terroristic methods to achieve their goals and believe their organization to be unfairly subjected to persecution in Russia. Russia’s Supreme Court banned “Hizb ut-Tahir” in 2003 and included it in the list of terrorist organizations.