After searches in the Bakhchisarai and Dzhankoy regions of Crimea, the Kiev District Court of Simferopol sent five detainees to a pre-trial detention center. These are Enver Khalilayev, Nariman Ametov, Ali Mamutov, the imam of the mosque in the village of Lobanovo Vakhid Mustafayev and activist Arsen Kashka.
The men were accused of terrorist activities for their alleged participation in the Hizb ut-Tahrir party. In the Russian Federation, the organization is recognized as terrorist, while in Ukraine, many countries in Europe and the world it operates legally.
“For 10 years, activists, religious figures, and citizen journalists have been persecuted for political and religious reasons. The cases of Hizb ut-Tahrir are formulaic. In court, investigators petitioned for a harsh measure of restraint, because our clients allegedly could hide, influence witnesses... These are standard phrases. Over all these long years, we have become convinced that not one of the detainees is a criminal,” said lawyer Emil Kurbedinov.
The day before, Memet Lyumanov, Aziz Azizov, Mustafa Abduramanov and journalist Rustem Osmanov were also arrested after searches.
