Crimean security forces took Imam Lenur Khalilov from his home without warning

On November 8, representatives of Russian law enforcement agencies took Lenur Khalilov, the former head of the independent Muslim community 'Alushta', from his home in annexed Crimea.

This was reported by Krym.Realii with reference to the human rights organization Crimean Solidarity and the prisoner's wife Umida Khudoyberdieva.

The Arkhangelsk Regional Court of the Russian Federation granted the prosecutor's motion and decided to return Khalilov to the colony. The prisoner was at home waiting for the decision of the court of appeal. Only with it he could be taken into custody again.

The wife said that the security forces did not leave any official papers, and the court decision on the basis of which the detention took place was only shown to her, offering Khalilov to read it. She said that the security forces waited until her husband had washed and changed his clothes, but at the same time expressed her indignation: "He is sick, why do this and take him away from his home? When asked where he was being taken and where he would stay before being transferred to the colony, the security forces did not tell him or his wife anything.

Crimean Muslim Khalilov was diagnosed with a number of serious illnesses, including primary liver cancer with lymph node metastases, chronic hepatitis C, grade II hypertension, as well as small liver cysts and kidney stones. Importantly, his disease is included in the list of the Russian government's decree No. 54, according to which he cannot be held in a penal institution on a general basis and needs to be treated in a specialized institution.

On this basis, in August, the Isakogorsk District Court of Arkhangelsk decided to release him. However, upon Khalilov's return home, the prosecutor appealed this decision, noting that the conclusions of the medical commission ''do not indicate the absolute necessity of release from serving his sentence''. This appeal eventually led to his forced return.

Lenur Khalilov is the former head of the independent Muslim community 'Alushta' and one of the detainees in the 'Hizb ut-Tahrir case' after the searches in 2019. The Memorial Human Rights Center recognized him and other defendants in the case as political prisoners. In response to these actions, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies opened criminal proceedings, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine protested and called on the international community to increase sanctions pressure on Russia.

Катерина Глушко