Ersmak Saraliyev
Ersmak Saraliyev, born 1959, Moscow. Charges: Article 205 item a (part unknown) applied with Article 30 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code (Preparation or attempt to commit a group terrorist attack); Article 222 part 3, Russian Criminal Code (Illicit trafficking in firearms or ammunition (by a group, using official positions or the Internet)); Article 223 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code (Manufacturing is understood as the creation of items specified by regulations without obtaining a…); “The case of the preparation of a terrorist attack in the "Kirgizia" cinema theatre”. Sentence (April 21, 2016): Eleven years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony. Status: at large. Recognition: Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners — recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion, April 30, 2017; Memorial Human Rights Centre — recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religion, April 16, 2017.
In brief
Moscow · Moscow · Entrepreneurs · Terrorism cases
Sentence
11 years
Eleven years of imprisonment in a strict regime colony
Upheld May 15, 2017
Charges
- Article 205 item a (part unknown) applied with Article 30 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code — Preparation or attempt to commit a group terrorist attack
- Article 222 part 3, Russian Criminal Code — Illicit trafficking in firearms or ammunition (by a group, using official positions or the Internet)
- Article 223 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code — Manufacturing is understood as the creation of items specified by regulations without obtaining a license in the prescribed manner, where the items acquire the properties of firearms, ammunition, explosives, or explosive devices
Full wording of the charges
was part of a criminal group planning a terrorist attack
Latest event
December 1, 2024 — imprisonment ends
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion — Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners, April 30, 2017
- Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religion — Memorial Human Rights Centre, April 16, 2017
Timeline
· Imprisonment ends
· Imprisonment begins
· Added to the Rosfinmonitoring list of “terrorists and extremists”
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· Recognised as unlawfully deprived of liberty for exercising freedom of religion
Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners
· Recognised as persecuted for exercising freedom of religion
Memorial Human Rights Centre
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 11 years
· Persecution begins
The case of the preparation of a terrorist attack in the "Kirgizia" cinema theatre
Criminal case
The case of the preparation of a terrorist attack in the "Kirgizia" cinema theatre
Other defendants in the case
- Tagir Akhtakhanov — At large, 11 years
- Nurmagomed Balakadashev — At large, 11 years
- Inyal Balakadashev — At large, 11 years
- Artur Maslakov — Location unknown, 12 years
- Tazhib Mahmudov — Imprisoned, 13 years
- Matlyuba Nasimova — At large, 11 years
- Islam Ramazanov — At large, 11 years
- Aslan Suleymanov — At large, 11 years
- Artur Tekilov — At large, 11 years
- Anzor Tekilov — At large, 11 years
- Tekilov Imran — Location unknown, 12 years
- Sergey Cheprasov — At large, 11 years
- Adam Shavkhalov — At large, 11 years
- Khoso Esmurzaev — At large, 11 years
Details and sources
Full summary
Moscow resident. Following the arrest of thirteen people in a hostel on suspicion of involvement in preparing the terrorist attack on the Kirgizia cinema, Saraliyev, who had previously also lived in the hostel, gave an interview to Kavkazskaya Politika in which he claimed their innocence and also appealed to various authorities. Saraliyev received threats, and on 8 December 2013 he was detained at his sister's flat and then arrested on the same charge - the investigation declared him the ideologist of the group.
Despite the fact that Saraliyev had moved out of the flat two months before the raid, an expert examination revealed the presence of explosives on his clothes and hair.
Human rights activists believe that there is no convincing evidence of his involvement in the crime; in their opinion, the persecution was part of a campaign to put pressure on Muslims.
On 22 April 2016, he was sentenced to eleven years in a strict regime colony. Presumably, he was released in early December 2024.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Russia
Other people prosecuted under Article 205 item a (part unknown) applied with Article 30 (part unknown), Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.