The Southern District Military Court of the Rostov Region sentenced Crimean Tatar activist Ansar Osmanov to 20 years in prison in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. It is reported by "Crimean solidarity".
Osmanov was found guilty under articles on organizing the activities of a terrorist organization (part 1 of article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and preparing for a violent seizure of power (article 278 of the Criminal Code with the application of part 1 of article 30 of the Criminal Code). He will spend the first five years in prison, and the rest in a strict regime colony.
The prosecution requested two years less for Osmanov – 18 years in prison.
Osmanov was arrested in February 2022. At the same time, another Crimean Tatar activist, Ernes Seitosmanov, was arrested. In May, Seitosmanov was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
“The basis of the accusation was a secret recording in Seitosmanov's house, when Ansar and Seitosmanov talked about everyday and religious topics, about the persecution of the Crimean Tatars, about how to help families. This recording was secretly made in Seitosmanov’s house, and then interpreted as the investigation needed,” Osmanov’s lawyer, Emil Kuberdinov, told human rights activists.