Racist court revokes imam's release from Crimea and returns him to prison

The court of the occupiers canceled the release of seriously ill Crimean Tatar Imam Lenur Khalilov. He was taken into custody again and placed in a pre-trial detention center.

This was reported by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

The Arkhangelsk Regional Court overturned the decision of the lower court to release 57-year-old Lenur Khalilov, an imam, public figure and former head of the independent Muslim community of Alushta, from the colony for health reasons. After the verdict was announced, which Khalilov listened to via video link from Akmesdzhit (Simferopol), he was immediately taken into custody and transferred to SIZO-2.

This decision was made despite official medical reports confirming Khalilov's serious health condition. Back in August 2025, the Isakogorsk District Court of Arkhangelsk, referring to medical documents, recognized Khalilov's detention in the colony as life-threatening and ordered his release. After that, he returned home to the Alushta district of the occupied Crimea.

However, in early September, the prosecutor of the Arkhangelsk region Nikita Ryazanov filed an appeal, demanding to cancel the decision to release him. He stated that Lenur Khalilov is a "particularly dangerous criminal" and his illnesses are only a "formal reason". On October 14, the Court of Appeal fully granted the appeal, effectively condemning the seriously ill man to death in custody.

Lenur Khalilov was detained on June 10, 2019 after massive searches in Alushta. Together with him, Ruslan Mesutov, Ruslan Nagayev and Eldar Kantimirov were arrested - all accused of the "case of the Alushta group of Hizb ut-Tahrir". On August 16, 2021, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Khalilov and Mesutov to 18 years in a strict regime colony, calling them "organizers of a terrorist group".

Prior to his arrest, Lenur Khalilov was actively involved in religious and social activities: he held prayers, organized Muslim holidays, helped with burials and supported the local community.

Recently, the Crimean political prisoner Nariman Derman, convicted in the Chelibidzhikhan case, was deprived of Russian citizenship. Despite his serious health condition and group II disability due to epilepsy, he has remained in custody for over a year and a half.

Анна Бальчінос