Ruslan Zeitullaev

A resident of Sevastopol. He was arrested with two other Muslims by the Federal Security Service at the end of January 2015 on suspicion of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir. A criminal case was brought against them under Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code (organisation of activities of a terrorist organization and participation in activities of such an organization). The investigation called Zeitullaev the organizer of the cell, but the court reclassified the charge from "organization" to "participation". On 7 September 2016, Zeitullaev was sentenced to 7 years in a general regime penal colony. On 27 December 2016, the court of appeal ordered a new hearing in response to the prosecutor's request. On 26 April 2017, Zeitullaev was found guilty, as an organiser this time, and sentenced to 12 years in a strict regime penal colony. On 27 July, the Supreme Court increased the sentence to 15 years, after the prosecutor's office's request make the sentence harsher.