Ametkhan Abdulvapov, sentenced to 10 years and 6 months in prison, was recognized as a political prisoner. This was reported by the project “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial".

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 on the territory of Ukraine and most countries of 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 accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization and preparing for a 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.

“The accusation is based on the fact that Abdulvapov participated in meetings with fellow believers, at which issues of faith and politics were discussed. The main evidence of guilt looks especially ridiculous - an audio recording of a meeting that took place 7 years before Abdulvapov’s arrest. We consider the decision of the Supreme Court, which declared Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist, unfounded. Its reasoning does not contain any evidence of the terrorist nature of its activities. We do not know a single fact of its participants committing terrorist attacks anywhere in the world,” human rights activists said.