The Crimean Tatar political prisoner was placed in a prison hospital because of his serious condition
Yashar Shikhametov, a 54-year-old Crimean Tatar, was transferred to a correctional institution in the Saratov region. Previously, he had difficulty moving due to serious back problems, complained of increasing pain in the heart, liver, and kidneys.
During several court sessions, Shikhametov was carried out on a stretcher, and then brought on a gurney. Court hearings were often postponed due to his poor health.
In 2022, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov sentenced cook Yashar Shikhametov to 11 years in prison. He was accused of membership in the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia, but the organization operates legally in most countries of the world.
According to the case materials, the accused did not have a weapon, did not plan to commit a terrorist act, and did not call on others to commit terrorist acts.
The case against Yashar Shikhametov has all the accusatory elements from similar trials on Hizb ut-Tahrir. The reason for the arrest was a search of the house with the discovery of prohibited literature without fingerprints.
