MOSCOW, June 10 (RAPSI) – A court in St. Petersburg on Wednesday ordered the detention of a Russian national who allegedly headed the local group of the international terrorist organization Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, until August 7, according to the regional department of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

The suspect was earlier arrested by the FSB as part of a case opened under Part 2 of Criminal Code Article 205.5 (the creation of and participation in a terrorist group).

Eight suspects have been arrested in St. Petersburg since the summer of 2014, including two alleged leaders of local Hizb ut-Tahrir cells.

The FSB official said Hizb ut-Tahrir activity in St. Petersburg has been stopped as a result of a joint operation of the local FSB and Interior Ministry departments.

Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Islamic Liberation), founded in Jerusalem in 1953, is banned in several Arab and Central Asian countries. Russia's Supreme Court banned the group from operating on the territory of the country in 2003, describing it as a terrorist organization.

Hizb ut-Tahrir members are regularly arrested by the police across Russia, mainly in big cities in central Russia, the Volga region and Siberia. Also, there are many supporters in Crimea, which rejoined Russia last spring.

A criminal case over the creation of a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell in the St. Petersburg region was opened last May.