Three brothers, Crimean Tatar political prisoners, sentenced to long terms

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 37-year-old Crimean Tatar Ernes Seitosmanov to 18 years in prison. He was found guilty of organizing a branch of the Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir, recognized as terrorist in Russia, and preparing to seize power. Earlier, the case of participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir was initiated against his brother Enver. In 2019, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. In 2016, their second cousin was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Ernest Seitosmanov attended trials of Crimean Tatars in Crimea and Rostov-on-Don, helped the families of political prisoners, and took part in public initiatives. Lawyer Aleksey Ladin said that during the search Seitosmanov was planted with books of Hizb ut-Tahrir and that a secret witness in court read testimony from a sheet. Another witness for the prosecution spoke about threats of criminal prosecution from the security forces.

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