Detainee complains of violence at Rostov SIZO after hostage-taking

Ekrem Krosh, accused of taking part in the "Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami"*, held at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don, has complained that law enforcers had beaten him up. He has linked their actions with the recent hostage-taking that occurred at this SIZO.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 16, detainees kept at the above Rostov SIZO took two employees as hostages. Law enforcers conducted an assault and the hostage-takers were killed. The head of Ingushetia said that four of the detainees who committed the hostage-taking were natives of Ingushetia, convicted of terrorism and sentenced to 18 years in prison each. Human rights defenders stated that the SIZO, where the incident took place, was overcrowded and lacked the staff.

After the incident with hostage-taking at SIZO No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don, law enforcers beat Ekrem Krosh up, accused in the case of the "Hizb ut-Tahrir"* cell. He believes that the beating was related to the recent hostage-taking, Alexei Ladin, an advocate for Krosh, believes.

Ekrem Krosh was detained on January 24, 2023, and charged with involvement in the activities of the "Hizb ut-Tahrir"*, the "OVD-Info"** project has informed.

Let us recall that in June 2022, the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service) reported on the detention of 13 members of a cell of the terrorist organization "Hizb ut-Tahrir"* in Rostov-on-Don. According to law enforcers, they were recruiting local Muslims and migrants.

*An international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate. In 2003, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recognized "Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami" as a terrorist organization and banned its activities.

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.