The Southern District Military Court sentenced Crimean Tatar Yashar Shikhametov to 11 years in prison on charges of "terrorism," Crimean Solidarity reports . Before his arrest, he worked as a cook in a Crimean cafe.
The prosecutor petitioned to appoint Yashar Shikhametov the same term, noting that the term was “less than prescribed” due to mitigating circumstances – the presence of a dependent minor child. The media note that Shikhametov has significant health problems against the background of chronic hypertension:
“I’m already half-dead, I want to at least a little, while I can, raise children. I'm having trouble walking. I'm being held hostage, like a terrorist, but I'm not a terrorist. The best remedy for illnesses will be to cancel this entire criminal case, ”Shikhametov said at the trial.
The case against Shikhametov has all the accusatory elements from similar Hizb ut-Tahrir trials, Crimean Solidarity notes. Mass searches in this case took place in February last year. Almost all of the detainees were activists of the Crimean Solidarity and the Crimean Childhood project for the children of political prisoners.
