Russia is already holding Crimean Muslims in detention for unproven involvement in an organization which is legal in Ukraine. It has now begun adding the charge of ‘attempting violent seizure of power in Russia’ with this carrying a near-guaranteed increase in sentence of from 12 to 20 years. The new charges have already been laid against human rights activist Emir-Usein Kuku, Vadim Siruk, Muslim Aliev and Envir Bekirov, and it is likely that they will be added in other cases.
The news was originally reported by Crimean Tatar lawyer Emil Kurbedinov, who is representing some of the 19 Crimeans convicted or in custody on charges linked with unproven involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir, the pan-Islamist organization which is not banned in Ukraine or most democratic countries.
