A defendant in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, who had been released from prison due to cancer, has been taken back into custody.

Lenur Khalilov, a figure in the “Alushta group” case of Hizb ut-Tahrir and former chairperson of the independent Muslim community “Alushta,” was detained in the morning of 8 November when security forces came to his home. This was reported by “Crimean Solidarity.”

Neither Khalilov nor his wife have been told where he will be taken.

In August, Khalilov was released from punishment due to health reasons. He has been diagnosed with several illnesses, including primary liver cancer with metastases in the lymph nodes, chronic hepatitis C, stage II hypertension, small cysts in the liver, a cyst in the left kidney, and kidney stones. Because of this, the Crimean Tatar “cannot be held in a correctional institution on general grounds and requires treatment in a specialised facility.” A prosecutor appealed the decision to release him, stating that the court’s conclusions, which cited the medical commission’s findings, “do not show the unconditional necessity of his release from serving the sentence.”

“Other circumstances were left without attention, clarification or proper assessment, including the defendant’s attitude to the treatment provided, compliance with medical recommendations, his current state of health, the possibility of receiving the necessary treatment without release, information about whether he has a permanent place of residence, relatives or close individuals who can and agree to care for him, and the actual necessity of such care,” the state prosecutor said. He also added that Khalilov is “an especially dangerous criminal” and “this was not taken into account by the court.”

In mid-October, the Arkhangelsk Regional Court granted the prosecutor’s motion and ordered that the Crimean Tatar be returned to the penal colony.

Khalilov and other defendants were detained after mass raids on Crimean Tatars in June 2019. In August 2021, Khalilov was found guilty of organising terrorist group activities and planning a violent overthrow of government. He was sentenced to 18 years in a high-security penal colony.