The Kiev District Court in Simferopol extended until August 3 the arrest of Crimean Tatars from Dzhankoy and Dzhankoy district - Enver Khalilayev, Nariman Ametov, Ali Mamutov, activist Arsen Kashka and the imam of the mosque in the village of Lobanovo Vakhid Mustafayev.

The defense filed motions to change the preventive measure to house arrest, but the court rejected them. “Confinement in a pre-trial detention center is a way of putting pressure on them because they refused to incriminate themselves and their co-religionists. This is the real essence of the accusation,” said lawyer Emil Kurbedinov.

In early March, all the defendants were accused of terrorist activities for their alleged participation in the Hizb ut-Tahrir party. In the Russian Federation it is recognized as a terrorist organization, but in Ukraine and countries of 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 preventive measure, imposed because our clients allegedly could escape, influence witnesses... These are standard phrases. Over all these many years, we have become convinced that not a single one of the detainees is a criminal,” shared Emil Kurbedinov.