Ansar Osmanov
Ansar Osmanov, born 1975, Occupied territory of Republic of Crimea. Charges: Article 205.5 part 1, Russian Criminal Code (Organizing 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); “Ansar Osmanov's case”. Sentence (June 16, 2023): 20 years' imprisonment in a strict regime colony. Status: imprisoned; deprived of liberty since February 9, 2022; place of detention: Prison No. 2, Vladimir Oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, November 16, 2022.
In brief
Occupied territory of Republic of Crimea · Sevastopol · Artists · Terrorism cases, Cases against Hizb ut-Tahrir
Sentence
20 years
imprisonment in a strict regime colony
Upheld February 4, 2025
Charges
- Article 205.5 part 1, Russian Criminal Code — Organizing 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
Ansar Osmanov, a Crimean Tatar, is accused of being the head of the regional branch of the international religious and political organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami ("Party of Islamic Liberation"), recognised as a terrorist organisation and banned by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - HT), and of organising its activities on the territory of Sevastopol and Bakhchisaray district of the Republic of Crimea. According to the investigation, from 18 March 2014 to 10 May 2018, Ansar Osmanov took the position of the regional head of HT on the territory of Sevastopol and Bakhchisaray district of the Republic of Crimea and organised the activities of at least two local cells of this organisation.
Latest event
April 25, 2025 — imprisonment begins
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, November 16, 2022
Timeline
· Imprisonment begins
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 20 years
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
· Persecution begins
Ansar Osmanov's case
Criminal case
Ansar Osmanov's case
Thematic group: The Third Sevastopol Case of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Write a letter
Facility: Prison No. 2, Vladimir Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
600020, ул. Большая Нижегородская д. 67, Владимирская область, г. Владимир, ФКУ «Тюрьма № 2 УФСИН по Владимирской области» «Владимирский централ», Османов Ансар Исмаилович, 1975 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
Wood carver, artist. Detained in February 2022 after a search, taken into custody. Another Crimean Tatar activist, Ernes Seytosmanov, was arrested at the same time. Both were accused of organising the activities of a terrorist organisation and preparing for a violent seizure of power.
Later, Osmanov was transferred to Rostov region.
Osmanov's lawyer Emil Kuberdinov spoke about irregularities in his client's case. "The basis of the prosecution was a secret recording in Seitosmanov's house, when Ansar and Seitosmanov talked about domestic and religious topics, about the persecution of Crimean Tatars, about helping their families. This recording was secretly made in Seytosmanov's house and then it was interpreted the way the investigation needs," Crimean Solidarity quotes Kuberdinov.
On 16 June, Osmanov was sentenced to 20 years in a strict regime colony - two years more than the term requested by the prosecutor.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 205.5 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.