The first hearings over the case of Crimean Tatar activists, who rallied on Red Square in support of defendants in the Bakhchisarai Hizb ut-Tahrir case is scheduled today (July 29) in Moscow District Court.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international religious and political organization, is legal in Ukraine but was designated as terrorist in Russia in 2003. In June, a Russian court convicted five Crimean Tatars for allegedly belonging to Hizb-ut-Tahrir and sentenced them to 12-17 years imprisonment.