Photo from UNIAN

The North-Caucasian District Military Court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, on December 24, handed down sentences against a group of four Crimean Tatars from the occupied Bakhchisarai in the so-called “Hizb ut-Tahrir case."

Enver Mamutov was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum security prison; Ruslan Abiltarov, Remzi Memetov and Zevri Abseitov – to nine years, also in a maximum security prison, according to Hromadske.

As UNIAN reported earlier, none of the defendants in the said case pleaded guilty.

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The detainees said that their case was “politically charged.”

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Russian prosecutors requested that the court sentence those indicted to prison terms ranging from 10 to 17 years.

On May 12, 2016, Russian security forces raided the houses of a number of Crimean Tatars and a local cafe in Bakhchisarai. As a result, four local men were detained and subsequently charged with terrorism. They are suspected of participating in the activities of a Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is recognized as terrorist organization in Russia.

UNIAN memo. Representatives of the international Islamic political organization Hizb ut-Tahrir call their mission the unification of all Muslim countries within the Islamic Caliphate, at the same time rejecting terrorism-related methods to achieve their goal. The organization says it is being subjected to unfair persecution in Russia and in the Russian-occupied Crimea. The Supreme Court of Russia banned Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2003, putting in the list of "terrorist" organizations.