Crimean religious extremist went to colony on second attempt
The Southern District Military Court reviewed the sentence of a member of the terrorist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami and sentenced him to 11 years in prison.
The previous court decision acquitted Ernes Ametov, who calls himself a "citizen journalist," reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to the press service of the court, since 2016, Ametov has been an active supporter of the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned in Russia, and until his arrest in 2017, he took an active part in the activities of the cell.
The “citizen journalist” acquired the necessary skills and knowledge to conduct propaganda work among the population in order to persuade them to join Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Ametov was detained along with the “Bakhchisaray five” extremists – Seyran Saliev, Marlen Asanov, Timur Ibragimov, Server Zekiryaev and Memet Belyalov. But 3 years later, the investigation found no evidence of Ametov’s involvement, and in October 2020 he was released. But in March of this year, the appeal court revised the decision of the Southern District Military Court and sent the case for a new trial and in a new court composition.
In April, Ametov was again taken into custody. To the article “organizing the activities of a terrorist organization and participating in the activities of such an organization,” the prosecutor’s office added charges of participation in a terrorist organization and an attempted coup in Crimea. This time the court issued a guilty verdict.
Since January 2015, supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir began to be detained in Crimea. They position themselves as a social movement that supposedly does not have extremist overtones. But Hizb ut-Tahrir declared its goal to be the creation of a universal world Islamic state (caliphate), living according to Sharia law.
Crimean religious extremist sent to prison on second attempt