Tofig Abdulgaziev
Tofig Abdulgaziev, born 1981, Occupied territory of Republic of Crimea. Charges: Article 297 part 2, Russian Criminal Code (Insulting participants in the administration of legal proceedings); “Tofik Abdulgaziev's case of contempt of court”, opened on April 1, 2026. Previously convicted under Article 205.5 part 2, Russian Criminal Code; Article 278 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code. Status: location unknown. Recognition: Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion, May 23, 2019; Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion, May 13, 2019.
In brief
Occupied territory of Republic of Crimea, Chelyabinsk Oblast · Simferopol, Chelyabinsk · Manual workers · Terrorism cases, Cases against Hizb ut-Tahrir
Sentence
12 years
imprisonment in a strict regime colony
Upheld August 26, 2024
Charges
- Article 297 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Insulting participants in the administration of legal proceedings
- Article 205.5 part 2, Russian Criminal Code — Participation in the activities of a terrorist organization
- Article 278 applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Preparing for violent seizure of power or alteration of the constitutional order
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, he was one of the ordinary members of the "Hizb ut-Tahrir" cell, and, using methods of conspiracy during meetings, spread terrorist ideology among the inhabitants of the peninsula, recruited Crimean Muslims into its ranks, and participated in preparations for the overthrow of the constitutional order.
Latest event
October 20, 2026 — case status changed
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, May 23, 2019
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion — Memorial Human Rights Centre, May 13, 2019
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
Timeline
· Criminal case opened
Tofik Abdulgaziev's case of contempt of court
· Cassation ruling
upheld
· Imprisonment begins
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 12 years
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion
Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
· Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №4 (SIZO-4) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation for the Rostov Oblast
· Persecution begins
The case of Tofik Abdulgaziev, Vladlen Abdulkadyrov, Izzet Abdullaev, Medzhit Abdurakhmanov, and Bilial Adilov
Criminal case
The case of Tofik Abdulgaziev, Vladlen Abdulkadyrov, Izzet Abdullaev, Medzhit Abdurakhmanov, and Bilial Adilov
Other defendants in the case
- Vladlen Abdulkadyrov — Imprisoned, 12 years
- Izzet Abdullayev — Imprisoned, 12 years
- Medzhit Abdurakhmanov — Imprisoned, 12 years
- Bilial Adilov — Imprisoned, 14 years
Thematic group: Second Simferopol case of "Hizb ut-Tahrir"
Tofik Abdulgaziev's case of contempt of court
Details and sources
Full summary
Crimean Solidarity activist. On 27 March 2019, detained after a search and on the same day taken into custody on charges of participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation. Sent to a pre-trial detention centre in Rostov region, later transferred back to Crimea.
In January 2020, it was reported that Abdulgaziev had blood poisoning, was not receiving the necessary medical care and was being held in a psychiatric hospital.
In March 2020, it became known that Abdulgaziev was also accused of preparing to overthrow the constitutional order.
On 12 May 2022, he was sentenced to 12 years in a strict regime colony.
In March 2024 he was transferred from prison to the intensive care unit of the tuberculosis hospital No. 3 of the State Penitentiary Service of the Chelyabinsk region. Doctors assess his condition as serious.
In December 2025, doctors discovered a malignant tumour in his brain.
On 27 February 2026, Abdulgaziev was removed from the courtroom where his lawsuit for release due to illnesses was being considered. The reason given was "inappropriate behaviour towards the judicial panel". According to Abdulgaziyev's wife, at the hearing he learnt that a day earlier he had been tricked into signing a document drawn up by a consilium of prison doctors, which stated that he was "perfectly healthy and has no objections or claims about being transferred back from the hospital to the colony". She explains that her husband could not read the document because of serious vision problems, and the head of the medical unit refused to read it aloud, adding: "Sign it, then you will know".
On 17 April 2026, the judge hearing Abdulgaziyev's lawsuit recused herself and filed an application against him. On the same day it became known that a contempt of court case had been brought against him, apparently in connection with the 27 February incident.
All fields of the record
- Persecution episodes
- 2
Other people prosecuted under Article 205.5 part 2, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.