PART 4 A YEAR AFTER: MAIN VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CRIMEA The arrested persons: Ruslan Zeytullaev, Nuri Primov, and Rustem Vaitov were ar- rested on January 23. In Ukraine, Hizb ut-Tahrir exists as a political Islamic movement involved in reli- gious, political, and educational activities. Some followers of this movement lived in Crimea. Hizb ut-Tahrir members have not been involved in any terrorist activity. However, Russia is the only country where Hizb ut-Tahrir has been recognized as a terrorist organization, and its participants are pursued criminally. The use of Russian legislation in the Crimea led to the arrest of three Crimean Ta- tars for alleged ‘establishment of a terrorist organization and participation in the activities of this organization’. In particular, they are accused of the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir. The court ruled on their detention for 2 months. But now, according to the Russian laws, one of the detainees may be sentenced between 15 and 20 years of imprisonment, or a life sentence, for organizing the activities, while the other two may be jailed for 5 to 10 years for taking part in such activities. Relatives and friends claim that the detainees were not involved in any terrorist ac- tivities and were just Muslims. There is no conclusive evidence of the fact that the detainees belonged to Hizb ut-Tahrir, and many believe that this is an act of intimi- dation of the Crimean Tatars. On February 16, Sevastopol City Court upheld its decision on the detention of one of the arrested, Ruslan Zeytullaev. He intends to appeal against the decision. His lawyer said that the hearing was conducted in the absence of the arrested person and his lawyer, which is a gross violation. The terms of detention of the four defend- ants are constantly extended. To date, the sentences had not been imposed. In 2016, the persecution of the alleged members of Hizb ut-Tahrir reached a new level. Thus, on February 11, 2016, there was a series of searches in the homes of Muslims in Yalta, Alushta and Bakhchisaray district. It is known that 13 Muslims were detained after these searches: Muslim Aliev, Enver Bekirov, Shamil Ilyasov, Emir-Usein Kyky, Na- riman Mamedinov, Damir Minadirov, Aider Moskovsky and his son, Rustem Osmanov, Vadim Siruk, Bakhtiyar Topuz, Arsen Khalilov, Muslim Mazmanov. With respect to the four persons detained as a result of searches (Enver Bakirov, Vadim Siruk, Muslim Aliev and Emir-Usein Kyky) the Simferopol court passed a decision on the detention for 2 months until April 8. They are accused of the so-called “terrorist articles” – participa- tion in a terrorist community or its organization, namely, the alleged participation in the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir. On February 12 and 18, 2016 there were also searches in the homes of Muslims on suspicion of participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir. 78