On Wednesday, April 15, the Third Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction in the city of Sochi rejected the appeals of the defendants of the so-called second Simferopol Hizb ut-Tahrir case about the extension of their detention. Seyran Murtaza, Erfan Osmanov, Ruslan Suleymanov, Osman Arifmemetov, Rustem Sheykhaliev and Medzhit Abdurakhmanov will remain in jail until June 14, 2020. It is reported by the Crimean solidarity public initiative.
“I upheld my appeal. Seyran Murtaza also upheld the appeal. In addition, the prosecutor attached a statement to the case that, when extending the preventive measure, Seyran did not directly participate in the court, but participated via videoconference. The reason for this was the threat of coronavirus infection, so that there was no risk of infection of the participants in the process. Seyran Murtaza was not brought to court”,- said lawyer Ayder Azamatov.
We remind that on March 27, 2019, Russian security forces in the occupied Crimea carried out mass searches in 26 Crimean Tatars' dwellings. Literature was seized from some activists, which, according to Crimean Solidarity, the security forces planted themselves. In addition to books and brochures, people were confiscated phones, tablets, laptops, passports. The servicemen behaved rudely. It is reported that they used physical force against detainees and entered the houses in shoes. Lawyers who arrived at the site of the searches were not allowed to contact the detainees. According to the results of the searches, 20 people were suspected of involvement in the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization, which is banned in the Russian Federation. On March 28, three more Crimean Tatar activists were detained, in whose dwellings searches were carried out in their absence. On March 27-28, the occupation court arrested all 23 detainees after searches. They chose a preventive measure in the form of detention. Subsequently, all the individuals involved in this so-called case were repeatedly extended the terms of their arrest.