17 years in a maximum security penal colony have been approved for the Crimean imam Raif Fevziev. In January last year, he was found guilty in a case of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
“Murderers are not given such terms. Today, a man was given 17 years for a 70-minute conversation about Islam,” the lawyer commented on the verdict.
Fevziev did not make the final statement, saying: “I believe that releasing me from the courtroom was a fair decision. That’s all.”
Raif Fevziev and four other Crimean Tatars were arrested after searches in Sevastopol in August 2021. The imam was accused of organizing the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and preparing for a violent change of power (Article 278 of the Criminal Code with the application of Part 1 of Article 30 of the Criminal Code) due to his alleged involvement in the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir. In the Russian Federation, it is recognized as terrorist.
