In Russia Ruslan Zeytullayev sentenced to 12 years in a strict-regime colony
The North Caucasus District Military Court in Russia’s Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ruslan Zeytullayev, defendant in the “Hizb ut-Tahir” case, to 12 years of imprisonment.
As reported by journalist Vladislav Ryazantsev on his Facebook page on April 26.
“The North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced Crimean Tatar Ruslan Zeytullayev, who is accused of organizing “Hizb ut-Tahrir” cell in the Crimea, to 12 years of imprisonment in a strict-regime colony. More than 20 people came to support Zeytullayev”, – wrote the journalist.
As reported by Crimean lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, today Ruslan will cease his hunger strike.
As a reminder, Ruslan Zeytullayev announced an indefinite hunger strike on April 4 during the court hearing in the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don. He put forward a number of demands to the Russian authorities: to stop the criminal prosecution of Crimean Tatars under the articles “terrorism” and “extremism”, to allow the representatives of the MFA to visit him in the SIZO (pre-trial detention centre), as well as to release other defendants in the Sevastopol “Hizb ut-Tahrir” case.
On 7 September 2016, the North Caucasus District Military Court found Zeytullayev guilty of “participating in terrorist communities” and sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment.. The Russian Prosecutor’s Office appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Russia and the case was sent to the North Caucasus District Military Court for reconsideration. Investigative authorities insist that Zeytullayev should not be considered as a participant, but as an organizer of the terrorist community.
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.
