A defendant in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case has been held in a punishment cell (SHIZO) and strict detention conditions (PKT) for almost a year.

Medzhit Abdurakhmanov, who was convicted in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, has been held for 11 months in both a cell-type room (PKT) and a punishment isolation cell (SHIZO) at Penal Colony No. 9 in Chuvashia. This was reported by Crimean Solidarity.

“Since arriving at the colony, Medzhit has not spent a single day in the barracks. All this time, he has either been held in SHIZO or in PKT,” said the detainee’s wife, Elmira Abdurakhmanova. Medzhit has not seen his family for two years. “For the last couple of months, he hasn’t even been allowed to use the money we’ve put on his account in the prison shop. We’ve been denied visits and phone calls; our only communication is through letters. The last visit was when he was in Saratov—that was two years ago,” his wife complained.

During his detention, Abdurakhmanov’s health has seriously deteriorated: he has developed spots on his body and face, his stomach ulcer has worsened, his teeth are crumbling, and he suffers from constant headaches and high blood pressure. The colony’s paramedic and doctor are providing him with no assistance. A parcel with vitamins and medicines has not been given to him.

In March 2019, in annexed Crimea, mass raids took place, after which officers detained Tofik Abdulgaziyev, Vladlen Abdulkadyrov, Izzet Abdullaev, Medzhit Abdurakhmanov and Bilyal Adilov.

In May 2022, they were sentenced under articles for participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation (part 2 of article 205.5 of the Criminal Code) and preparing to violently overthrow the government (article 278 of the Criminal Code, as applied with part 1 of article 30). Adilov was given 14 years in prison, while the others, including Abdurakhmanov, received 12 years each; all must serve the first five years in prison, with the remainder in a strict regime colony.