Crimean Tatar political prisoner to be transferred from pretrial detention center to maximum security penal colony
Activist Ametkhan Abdulvapov, who was sentenced to 10.5 years, will be transferred to a maximum security penal colony. Its location is still unknown. He is currently in pretrial detention center No. 1 in Irkutsk, 6,000 kilometers from his home in Crimea.
The Crimean Tatar was charged with membership in the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has been banned in Russia since 2003 and recognized as terrorist. The organization operates legally in Ukraine and most countries around the world.
According to the case materials, the defendant did not own a weapon, did not plan to commit a terrorist act, and did not call for it. However, Ametkhan Abdulvapov was charged under articles on participation in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparation for the violent seizure of power. The charges were based on the testimony of secret witnesses and an audio recording secretly made in 2015 during a meeting with other Muslims.
