Journalist of "Caucasian Policy" found guilty of involvement in extremist organization

The Magistrate Court of Judicial Precinct 406 of the Nizhny-Novgorod District of Moscow has found Rustam Djalilov, an observer of the edition "Caucasian Policy", guilty of involvement in the extremist organization "Hizb ut-Tahrir", which is banned in the territory of Russia. The journalist refused to plead guilty and treats his prosecution as fabricated, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The Djalilov's defence argues that the charge is based on testimonies of the witnesses, whose appearance at the trial the court refused to ensure, thereby having grossly violated defendant's right to defence.

"One of the witnesses, who evidenced weird things against me, a citizen of Tajikistan, who had been convicted of possession of ammunition, is kept for the third month, allegedly with high temperature, somewhere in SIZO or in Smolensk, in jail; they can't bring him to the trial. And two other witnesses, who had been defendants themselves, have allegedly gone abroad for medical treatment; and the question that arises here: who had allowed defendants to go abroad? – remained with no answer by the court," Rustam Djalilov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Absurd accusations against Muslims in general questioned the impartiality of all the judges," Bakhram Khamroev, an employee of the HRC "Memorial", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "The fight against extremism is always beneficial for the ruling regime: any person can be detained and put in jail; and a due formulation can always be found," said the human rights activist.