Political prisoner Ansar Osmanov, a defendant in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, was asked to be sentenced to 18 years in prison in a strict regime colony.
We remind you that on February 9, 2022, Russian security forces searched the homes of four Crimean Tatars: Ansar Osmanov, Ametkhan Abdulvapov, Marlen Mustafaiev and Ernest Seitosmanov. All the activists were detained and accused of being involved in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case.
After the occupation of Crimea, the Russian Federation actively practices religious persecution on the peninsula. According to the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, 101 people are being prosecuted in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, 98 of them are representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. 73 of them are serving sentences in Russian prisons and colonies, and 24 are in pre-trial detention, 2 are under house arrest, 3 have been released.