Crimean Tatars detained the day before were sent to jail
Crimean Tatars Rustem Mustafayev and Abibulla Smedlyaev, detained on February 5, were sent to jail until April 4. They are accused of participating in the activities of a terrorist organization. The Islamic party Hizb ut-Tahrir is recognized as such in the Russian Federation.
Emir Kurtnezirov was sent to jail earlier. A preventive measure will also be chosen for Bakhtiyar Ablaev and Myrzaali Tazhibaev.
On February 5, searches were conducted at the residences of the above-mentioned Crimean Tatars. Emine Kurtnezirova, Emir Kurtnezirov's sister, said that security forces came to his home at 4 a.m., "planted literature, turned the whole house upside down." According to Rustem Mustafayev's wife, the police officers who arrived said that they were taking her husband "for a long time" and allowed him to wash himself and perform namaz.
Since January 2015, in Crimea, which came under the de facto control of Russia, criminal cases against Hizb ut-Tahrir have been opened en masse. In Ukraine and many countries around the world, the party's activities are not banned. Before the peninsula came under the control of the Russian Federation, the organization's activists were publishing a newspaper, could speak openly in the media, and hold mass public events. Human rights activists claim that the party members do not commit any crimes, but only talk about religion and politics, often criticizing the Russian authorities.
