Defence sees political motives in Rostov court's verdict in Hizb ut-Tahrir* case

Today, the Southern District Military Court has sentenced Muslim Enver Seitosmanov, accused of involvement in a Sevastopol unit of an organization banned in Russia by the court, to 17-year-old of imprisonment in a penal colony. The defence treats the court's decision as politically motivated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 7, 2016, the court pronounced verdicts against four Crimean Muslims recognized as members of a Crimean unit of the "Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami" (a terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"). All of the defendants pleaded not guilty.

At the today's court hearing, the Southern District Military Court has sentenced Enver Seitosmanov to 17 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony, which is two years longer than the minimum term of imprisonment stipulated by the article of the charge.

According to investigators, Enver Seitosmanov, together with Ruslan Zeitullaev, headed the Sevastopol unit of the "Hizb ut-Tahrir".

"The next unprecedented verdict concerning the number of years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony has been pronounced. It is obvious that the sentence is absolutely politically motivated, and I believe that the defence has proved that fact at the court hearing. We intend to challenge the sentence at the court of appeal and then, most likely, at international instances, including the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)," Emil Kurbedinov, an advocate of Enver Seitosmanov, commented for the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on his client's verdict.

* A terrorist organization, banned in Russia by the court

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 5, 2019 at 01:07 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.