Dokument #1266249
RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Autor)
July 30, 2014
A Russian court has handed down sentences to four members of a banned Islamic group.
The Moscow City Court on July 30, sentenced four men from Tajikistan and Russia's North Caucasus Republic of Daghestan to prison terms ranging from 7 to 11 years.
The men were found guilty of being members of the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir group, planning to use violence to overthrow Russia's constitutional structures, and illegally obtaining and possessing weapons and explosives.
The convicted men represented different social groups, from jobless citizens to a dentist.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a London-based Sunni political organization that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate.
Russia's Supreme Court banned the group in 2003, branding its members and supporters as "extremists."
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