Daghestan’s Prosecutor’s Office has approved an indictment against Daghestani man Murad Valiyev. He is accused of organising terrorist attacks and ‘preparing for the violent seizure of power’.

A source in the Prosecutor’s Office told OC Media that investigators believe that Valiyev was a member of the organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is recognised as a terrorist organisation in Russia.

‘According to investigators, in 2013, the suspect was involved in creating printed material and conducting training for the organisation in Moscow. Since 2015, he lead the organisation’s Daghestani cell. In February 2016, in order to revive the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir, he became its leader in the Makhachkala area’, the source said.

Law enforcement officers detained Murad Valiyev in 2016. The Prosecutor’s Office has approved the indictment and the case has been transferred to the North Caucasus District Military Court. If Valiyev is found guilty, he may face 15–25 years in prison.

Hizb ut-Tahrir was founded in Jerusalem in 1953. It has since grown to, according to different estimates, between tens of thousands and one million, members and spread to more than 50 countries. The organisation has been banned in Germany, Russia, China, Egypt, Turkey, and several Arab countries. Hizb ut-Tahrir campaigns for the re-establishment of a global Caliphate, but publicly rejects widespread allegations of connections to terrorism.

Since 2003, the organisation has been recognised as a terrorist organisation in Russia. It occupied the eighth place in the federal list of terrorist organisations, after the Muslim Brotherhood. Every year, about 100 people are tried in Russia for alleged connections with Hizb ut-Tahrir. In 2016, more than 50 Daghestanis were found guilty of involvement with the organisation.