On October 20 in Moscow, Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Alexeyeva said that a cell of Hizb ut Tahrir has been eliminated in the Moscow region. “As a result of an operation, 97 people have been brought to interior-system bodies to be checked on the subject of involvement in unlawful activity and 20 members, including leaders of the extremist cell, have been arrested under Article 91 of the Russian Criminal Code. Whether they should be remanded in custody will be decided in the very near future,” Alexeyeva said.

The members of the said extremist group recruited new adherents among people professing Islam, distributed banned religious literature, and collected money, including for the purpose of providing assistance to militants belonging to armed groups, she said.

“Special operations were carried out as part of a criminal inquiry into the organizing of and membership in a terrorist organization, which was launched by Moscow investigators of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Searches carried out at 24 addresses, Hizb ut Tahrir members had resided, led to the seizure of bank cards and a large number of extremist materials, both in electronic format and in print, and of other banned literature calling for the overthrow of the Russian constitutional system and the creation of a global Caliphate,” the Interior Ministry spokesperson said.

A source in law enforcement agencies told Interfax earlier on Tuesday that around 20 supporters of the radical Islamist organization Hizb ut Tahrir (banned in Russia) had been arrested in the Moscow region and dozens of others were being checked on the subject of involvement in extremism.

Earlier on Tuesday, Moscow’s Lefortovo Court remanded Obidzhon Dzhurabayev and Abdukayum Makhsudov, who have been accused of recruiting people for a terrorist organization, into custody.

A court spokesman told Interfax that the court had ruled in favor of investigators’ request seeking a custodial term for the suspects.

According to the case files, the two face charges of organizing the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Russian Penal Code). They have been remanded into custody until December 13, 2015.

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Comment:

Even though Russia claims to have a `rule of law` which serves to subjugate and regulate the affairs of its nation. It’s a well-known fact that Russia´s political agenda is far stronger and beyond this `rule of law`. The latter has regularly been used in the past and still is being used as a tool to serve and realize certain political aims. That’s why manipulation and deception by the government is not an uncommon tactic which is often used to eliminate political oppositions, or to silence activists who are vocal against Russian policies.

Also it’s a well-known and established fact that Hizb ut Tahrir is a political party who does not use any kind of violence to realize its aims. So there is no need to prove otherwise why the party should not be labelled as a “terrorist” organization. It’s clear as day that the party members have been arrested for a different purpose then the allegation thrown at them. So the question arises, what are the real objectives behind the crackdown?

With the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Russia prompted to use the pretext of the US `war on terror` slogan in order to make tough policies back home. That year it banned Hizb ut Tahrir and 14 other groups and blacklisted them on a list of banned terrorist organizations. As a result many of our brothers and sisters were arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB).

And it’s no coincidence that the big scale operation against the party today took place after Russia´s recent military intervention in Syria and Iraq and their concern about the establishment of an imminent Khilafah state by the Syrian people who are fighting the tyrant Bashar. This concern was clearly expressed on multiple occasions by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who called to the prevention of the formation of a “terrorist caliphate” in Syria.

The foreign politics of Russia in the Muslim world undoubtedly affect its domestic policies against Muslims and Islamic groups. Its concern and real aim, together with all the western countries and treacherous regimes in the Muslim countries is to prevent the call for a Khilafah in Syria and all other Muslim countries. Even though Russia knows very well that the party doesn’t work to change the Russian society in order to establish a Khilafah system there, Russia nevertheless acts harshly against them, because of its hatred and animosity against Islam.

Russia and its allies against Islam should know that the call for Khilafah can’t be stopped by putting people in jail, intimidating or killing them. If that was a successful method then the call for Khilafah would have been stopped long ago, but despite all of these atrocities against the party and the noble Ummah the call for Khilafah becomes stronger by day. And exactly this is what the western powers are confronted with in Syria; despite the coalition of almost all the Kufr states against the sincere Muslims in Syria, they still are firm and demanding a Khilafah state post-Assad.

Finally:

My prayer goes out to our brothers and sisters who are working relentlessly, day in and night out to establish the Deen of Allah سبحانه وتعالى on earth. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى reward them and hasten their release as soon as possible. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى protect them and their families against all evil. May Allah سبحانه وتعالى reward them in this life with the fruits of their work and resurrect them in the Hereafter together with the Prophets and the righteous.

 

Okay Pala

Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in the Netherlands