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On February 11, 2016, Russian security forces conducted mass searches in the occupied Crimea, as a result of which representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people were detained, Emir-Huseyn Kuku (b. 1976), Aliev Muslim (b. 1971), Bekirov Enver (b. 1963) and Siruk Vadim (b. 1989). The detainees were accused of participating in the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned on the territory of the Russian Federation. On April 18, 2016, security officials in Crimea detained Dzhepparov Arsen (b. 1991) and Refat Alimov (b. 1991). They were also accused of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir. All six were charged with article 205.5 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“organizing and participating in a terrorist organization”), and later with article 278 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Forcible seizure of power or forced retention of power”).
On November 12, 2019, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don announced the decision regarding the Yalta “Hizb ut-Tahrir case”. Muslim Aliev was sentenced to 19 years in a maximum-security penal colony with a restriction of freedom for 1 year, Enver Bekirov to 18 years in a maximum-security penal colony with a restriction of freedom for 1 year, Vadim Siruk and Emir-Huseyn Kuku to 12 years in a maximum-security penal colony with a restriction of freedom for 1 year, Refat Alimov to 8 years in a maximum-security penal colony with a restriction of freedom for 1 year restriction, Arsen Dzhepparov to 7 years in a maximum-security penal colony with a restriction of freedom for 1 year. None of the defendants pleaded guilty.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center expresses a strong objection and argues that this decision is unlawful, politically motivated, and criminal.
Such a policy of the Russian Federation is a demonstration of the persecution of dissent, as well as of alternative religious and political beliefs of people in the occupied Crimea. In addition, the decision of the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don testifies to the ongoing repression and pressure on the indigenous Crimean Tatar people.
The Russian Federation illegally uses its legislation for political purposes, in particular, to suppress the nonviolent struggle of the Crimean Tatars and their protest against the occupation of Crimea.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center demands the reversal of the verdict for the defendants in Yalta "Hizb ut-Tahrir case" and the immediate release of other political prisoners.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center calls on the international community, international human rights organizations to increase pressure on the Russian Federation and the occupation authorities of Crimea in order to stop political persecution and annul the previously issued court decisions.
Press Service of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center