The Southern Area Military Court of Rostov-na-Donu sentenced Murat Mustafayev, a Crimean Tatar, to 4 years in custody on charges of Hizb ut-Tahrir membership.
As stated by the court, Mr.Mustafayev was found guilty under RF CC Article 205.5-2 (engagement into the activities of a terrorist organization) and Article 278, together with Article 30-1 (preparation for violent seizure of power). The verdict was passed by a panel of judges headed by Nikolay Vasilchuk.
Mr.Mustafayev is to serve the first two years of his sentence in prison, the rest – in the maximum security regime penal colony.
According to the FSB notification, Mustafayev’s case was considered under special procedure because he pleaded guilty and entered into a plea agreement with the prosecutor.
As informed by the CHRG, on the morning of August 11, 2022, mass searches of Crimean Tatar activists’ houses were carried out in the town of Dzhankoy and in Dzhankoy District of Crimea. Lawyers were not allowed to participate in investigative actions, and they reported that their mobiles were muted at the site. Six men – Vilen Temeryanov, Enver Krosh, Seitiya Abbozov, Murat Mustafayev, Edem Bekirov and Rinat Aliyev – were detained by Russian security men on charges of Hizb ut-Tahrir membership, the organization which is banned in Russia.
On August 12, the “Kievskiy District Court” of Simferopol arrested Crimean Tatars detained the day before: Vilen Temeryanov, Enver Krosh, Seitiya Abbozov, Murat Mustafayev, Edem Bekirov and Rinat Aliyev.
On February 28, 2023, it became known that the “FSB for Crimea and Sevastopol” had completed the investigation into the case of the first Hizb ut-Tahrir Dzhankoy Group.
On April 17, Vilen Temeryanov, Crimean Solidarity journalist, and activist Enver Krosh were convoyed from Crimea to Rostov-na-Donu. Two more Crimean Tatars, arrested in the case of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Dzhankoy District of Crimea, Rinat Aliyev and Edem Bekirov, were convoyed together with them. Mr.Seitiya Abbozov is in Crimea under house arrest, Crimean Solidarity reported.
