DUSHANBE, July 31, 2014, Asia-Plus — A Russian court has handed down sentences to four members of a banned Islamic group, Radio Liberty reports.
The Moscow City Court sentenced four men from Tajikistan and Russia”s North Caucasus Republic of Daghestan to prison terms ranging from 7 to 11 years on July 30.
The men were found guilty of being members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir group, planning to use violence to overthrow Russia”s constitutional structures, and illegally obtaining and possessing weapons and explosives.
The convicted men reportedly represented different social groups, from jobless citizens to a dentist.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a London-based Sunni political organization that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate.
Russia”s Supreme Court banned the group in 2003, branding its members and supporters as “extremists.”
Meanwhile the Supreme Court of Tajikistan formally labeled the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamist group as an extremist organization on March 11, 2008. The ruling followed a request submitted to the court by Tajik chief prosecutor. Although the group has been outlawed in Tajikistan since April 2001, the ruling means even tighter restrictions on the group”s presence on the Internet and its use of media to promote its ideology.
