On Monday, September 28, Rustem Abiltarov, a political prisoner involved in the so-called Bakhchisaray Hizb ut-Tahrir case, turned 41 years old. He is forced to celebrate his fifth birthday in the dungeons of the FSB. A court in the Russian Federation sentenced him to 8 years and 9 months in a strict regime colony with restriction of freedom for a term of 1 year. The staff of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center sincerely congratulates Rustem Abiltarov on his birthday! We wish you speedy release and reunification with your family and loved ones, good health, patience, unbending will and prosperity!
We remind that on May 12, 2016, the Russian security forces conducted mass searches in the occupied Crimea in the dwellingss of representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. As a result, Zevri Abseitov, Remzi Memetov, Rustem Abiltarov and Enver Mamutov were detained. They were accused of involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization banned in the Russian Federation. In December 2018, they were sentenced to 9 to 17 years in prison. In July 2019, when considering an appeal, political prisoners’ period of imprisonment was reduced by three months. For four years they have been illegally detained.
On December 24, 2018, the North Caucasian District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the defendants in the so-called first Bakhchisaray Hizb ut-Tahrir case. Enver Mamutov was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum security penal colony with a probation term of 1 year and 6 months, Zevri Abseitov, Remzi Memetov and Rustem Abiltarov were sentenced to 9 years in a maximum security penal colony with a probation term of 1 year.
While giving their last word, all the defendants involved in the so-called case noted that they did not consider themselves guilty, and also pointed to the politically-motivated nature of the criminal case.
On July 11, 2019, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, when considering the appeal, reduced the sentence of the defendants in the first Bakhchisarai Hizb ut-Tahrir case: Enver Mamutov from 17 years to 16 years and 9 months (by 3 months), and Zevri Abseitov, Remzi Memetov and Rustem Abiltarov from 9 to 8 years and 9 months (by 3 months).