The military appeals court of Vlasikh near Moscow upheld the sentence of the Crimean Tatar imam Raif Fevziev. He was sentenced to 17 years in the case of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.

"Hopeful for at least some kind of impartiality of the judicial system, which, in fact, it should be characterized by, I tried as much as possible to objectively prove my innocence," said the political prisoner.

Fevziev spoke with the last word, in which he called his and similar criminal cases politically motivated.

The main testimony in the Imam's case was given by confidential witnesses. According to lawyer Edem Semedlyaev, different people appeared under one of the pseudonyms. He noted that the prosecution could not ensure the appearance of a witness in court for a long time, as this person simply could not be found and in the end was replaced by another person.

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 a terrorist.