Two Hizb-ut-Tahrir followers from Ufa sentenced to 4 years in penitentiary
UFA. March 22 (Interfax) - The Military Panel of the Russian Supreme Court has stiffened penalty for two Ufa residents originally given suspended sentences for participating in activities of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir organization, which is banned as a terrorist one in Russia, the Bashkortostan prosecution service said in a report on Wednesday.
"The higher court has overruled the suspended sentence and has sentenced the defendants in this criminal proceeding to four years in a general security penitentiary under Russian Criminal Code Article 205.5, Part 2 (membership in a terrorist organization) and Article 282.2, Part 2 (membership in a banned extremist group)," the report said.
It has been established that the defendants, Rinat Mamayev, 45, and Rishat Gataullin, 44, were members of a Hizb-ut-Tahrir cell from 2011 to 2015; they were spreading Hizb-ut-Tahrir ideas and recruiting new members, the report said.
The police put an end to the cell's activity in the city of Ufa and the Ufa region in 2015.
The Privolzhsky District Military Court earlier found the defendants guilty of membership of a terrorist organization and gave each of them a 4.5-year suspended sentence.
The prosecution appealed the judgment on the grounds of excessive leniency of the sentence and incorrect qualification of the crime.