A court in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan, has sentenced a man to 19 years in prison for being a member of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group. The court ruled on January 9 that Ruslan Ilyasov must stay in a cell for five years and serve the rest of his term in a penal colony. Hizb ut-Tahrir is a global organization based in London that seeks to unite all Muslim countries into an Islamic caliphate. Russia's Supreme Court banned the group in 2003, branding its supporters as "extremists." To read the original story from RFE/RL's Idel.Realities, click here.
