A defendant in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case has been released from prison due to cancer

Lenur Khalilov, a defendant in the “Alushta group” Hizb ut-Tahrir case and former chair of the independent Muslim community “Alushta,” has been released from his sentence due to his health condition. This was reported by Crimean Solidarity.

In February, Khalilov was transferred to Penal Colony No. 1 in Arkhangelsk from the “Vladimirsky Central” prison. Almost immediately after the transfer, he was placed in the prison hospital, where he remained until mid-July. The believer was diagnosed with cancer.

The decision to release Khalilov was made by the Isakogorsky District Court of Arkhangelsk. The basis for the release was that Khalilov’s illness is included in the list of diseases that preclude imprisonment.

Residents of Alushta and the Alushta city district—Lenur Khalilov, Ruslan Mesutov, Ruslan Nagaev, and Eldar Kantimirov—were detained after mass searches in June 2019.

In August 2021, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don found the defendants guilty of organising and participating in the activities of a terrorist organisation (parts 1 and 2, Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code), and preparing for the violent overthrow of the government (Article 278 of the Criminal Code with the application of part 1, Article 30). A year later, the appeal court upheld this decision.

Khalilov and Mesutov, who were deemed organisers of the terrorist organisation cell, were sentenced to 18 years in a strict regime colony, while Nagaev and Kantimirov were sentenced to 13 and 12 years respectively as participants in the cell. The first two years of their sentences were to be served in prison. In addition, the court imposed one year of restrictions on freedom for all the believers after their release.

After the sentence was upheld, Khalilov was transferred to “Vladimirsky Central.”