20 Years in Prison: Five Members of Hizb ut Tahrir Convicted in Crimea

News:

Crimea: The Southern District Military Court sentenced one of the members of Hizb ut Tahrir to 20 years in prison, with the first four years to be served in a prison facility. The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 14 to 15 years in a maximum-security penal colony. This was reported by the press service of the FSB Directorate for Crimea and Sevastopol, according to RIA Novosti.

The individuals in question are members of the party who were detained in March 2024 in the Dzhankoy District of the Republic of Crimea. According to the FSB's allegations, the convicted men carried out targeted activities aimed at spreading Islamic ideology within Russia. During clandestine meetings, they allegedly recruited local Muslims to join their ranks. Criminal cases were subsequently opened against the detainees.

Comment:

The FSB regularly carries out arrests of Hizb utTahrir members in Crimea. In March 2024, the agency reported dismantling one of the group's cells. Prior to that, in August 2023, the FSB and the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya) conducted a joint special operation that resulted in the detention of six individuals. An earlier operation of a similar nature took place in January 2023.

Apparently, the FSB in Crimea is still acting with considerable caution, essentially carrying out its annual quota of arrests of party members. Its actions appear to be carefully calibrated so as not to provoke the broader Crimean Tatar population. It is difficult to find a Muslim family in Crimea in which at least one member is not a shabb of the party. For this reason, the Russian authorities have to be proceeding cautiously and avoiding large-scale arrests.