MOSCOW, April 16 (RAPSI) – The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the sentence of two men Akramzhon Abdullayev and Nematzhon Isroilov, who had received 15 and 13 years behind bars respectively for recruiting new members to Hizb ut-Tahrir terrorist organization banned in Russia, the court’s press service told RAPSI.

The defendants’ appeal against the North Caucasus District Military Court’s ruling of October 26, 2018, was therefore dismissed.

The North Caucasus District Military Court and investigators found that Abdullayev and Isroilov were spreading terrorist ideology starting January 2015. Investigators claimed that the men were studying and keeping Hizb ut-Tahrir ideological materials and extremist literature.

From January 2015 to late August 2016, the defendants held gatherings disguised as traditional Islam study to involve people in the terrorist group’s activities, the Investigative Committee of Russia reported.

Abdullayev and Isroilov were arrested on August 25, 2016.

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 in the spring of 2014.