Four Uzbek rebels convicted of attempting to overthrow the government in Crimea

The North Caucasian District Military Court convicted four Uzbeks of planning terrorist attacks and violent seizure of the government.

According to the preliminary investigations of law enforcement bodies, Enver Mamutov, a native of Samarkand, organized a cell of the terrorist organization “Khizb ut-Takhrir” (banned in Russia) in Bakhchisarai city of Crimea. To the composition of the cell, he attracted three more of his fellows. The organization’s goal was to “eliminate non-Islamic governments and establish gradually an Islamic state, including on the territory of the Russian Federation,” the verdict states.

The convict Mamutov reported to his masters via the Internet on the work of the cell.

The supporters of radical ideas failed to carry out their plans to overthrow the legitimate authorities in Crimea - they were all detained by law enforcement officers.

According to the court’s verdict, Mamutov was sentenced to deprivation of liberty for 17 years in the penal colony of strict regime with restriction of liberty for a term of 1.5 years. His sidekicks received a nine-year detention at the correctional colony of strict regime with a restriction of liberty for one year.