The military court of appeal in Vlasikha, Moscow region, approved the arrest of Crimean Tatar activists Enver Krosh, Vilen Temeryanov, Renata Aliyev and Edem Bekirov until August 29. Former imam Remzi Kurtnezirov's house arrest was extended until August 4.
The accused made a speech in court and noted that their term of detention in the pre-trial detention center was being unreasonably extended. The Court of Appeal did not take these arguments into account.
Criminal cases were opened against Crimean Tatars for participation in a political party in Hizb ut-Tahrir. It is recognized as terrorist in Russia, but at the same time it operates legally in Ukraine, European countries and the world.
Searches in the houses of the defendants in the Bakhchisarai and Dzhankoy districts of Crimea took place in early March. Lawyer Emil Kurbedinov said that evidence of the activists’ involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir was an audio recording of a conversation in a mosque from 2015.
“All these years these people have not been criminally prosecuted and have not posed any danger to society,” he emphasized.
