The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced five Crimean Tatars accused of being members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization banned in Russia. According to the human rights organization Crimean Solidarity, they were given 13 years in prison.
Alim Karimov, Seyran Murtaza, Erfan Osmanov, Jemil Gafarov and Servet Gaziev were accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 2 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and preparing for a violent seizure of power (Part 1 of Article 30, Article 278 of the Criminal Code). Crimean Solidarity notes that they did not find any weapons or explosives, and the case was based on the testimony of a “secret witness”
Gaziev and Gafarov are elderly people suffering from many diseases. 60-year-old Gafarov has a disability of the II group, and 62-year-old Gaziev suffered a microstroke in a pre-trial detention center, as a result of which his speech was impaired. The man was refused hospitalization.
All five were detained in Crimea in March 2019 during mass searches of Crimean Tatars. More than 20 people were detained on suspicion of involvement in the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir. Some of them were activists of the Crimean Solidarity, which is engaged in the protection of victims of political persecution.
