Russia Sentences 4 Islamic ExtremistsFriday February 23, 2007 2:46 AM
MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian court sentenced four men to between 14 months and
2 years in prison after they confessed to being members of the banned extremist
group Hizb ut-Tahrir, news agencies reported Thursday.
The Tobolsk City Court in the Tyumen region, about 1,000 miles east of Moscow,
sentenced Alim Timkanov and Rustam Nazyrov were sentenced to 2 and two years
in a penal colony respectively, ITAR-Tass and Interfax reported. Two other men,
Artur Nabeyev and Vladislav Boikov, were sentenced to 14 months and one year
in a penal settlement.
Prosecutors accused the four of spreading extremist literature, ITAR-Tass reported.
All four pleaded guilty.
Hizb-ut-Tahrir, whose Arabic name means Party of Liberation, claims to disavow
violence in its quest to create a worldwide Islamic state.
-snip-