A defendant in the "Crimean Muslim case" was released after almost 9 years of imprisonment
A member of the first Bakhchisarai group in the "Hizb ut-Tahrir case", Crimean Tatar Remzi Memetov, was released from Penal Colony No. 11 in Stavropol. He was detained in 2016 and sentenced to nine years in 2018. The Supreme Court subsequently reduced his sentence to eight years and nine months.
In prison, Memetov suffered from high blood pressure for a long time. He often felt dizzy and his right eye did not function well.
In May 2016, Russian security forces conducted a series of searches in the homes of Crimean Muslims in Bakhchisarai. As a result, four men were detained: Remzi Memetov, Zevri Abseitov, Rustem Abiltarov and Enver Mamutov. They were accused of involvement in the activities of the Islamic political party Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in Russia but operates freely in Europe. According to the investigation, Memetov and other defendants in the case did not have weapons or ammunition, did not plan to commit a terrorist act, and did not call on others to commit terrorist acts. However, all four were given long sentences on charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing for the violent seizure of power.
Since January 2015, criminal cases on Hizb ut-Tahrir have been opened en masse in Crimea, which came under the de facto control of Russia. The party's activities are not banned in Ukraine. Before the peninsula came under Russian control, the organization's activists published a newspaper, could speak openly in the media, and hold mass public events.
According to human rights activists, the party members are being persecuted not for preparing a coup d'etat and terrorism, but for criticizing the Russian authorities and the repressions in Crimea.
