Russian Federal Security Service Arrests Leader Of Hizb Ut-Tahrir Tatarstan Branch

Illustration of an arrest. (Wikimedia Commons/Oregon Department of Transportation)

JAKARTA - Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested a leader of a terror group banned in Russia, the Tatarstan branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir, the FSB Center for Public Relations said.

"The FSB, together with units of the Federal Service of the National Guard and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, detained the leader of the Tatarstan branch of the international terror group Hizb ut-Tahrir in a special operation carried out in the Republic of Tatarstan," the FSB Center for Public Relations quoted TASS as saying.

According to the FSB, the detained individuals propagated the terror group's intolerant ideology of other religions among Russian citizens. In addition, the individual also recruited Russian Muslims to join international terror organizations.

During a search conducted by the FSB, officers found Hizb ut-Tahrir propaganda material which is banned in Russia, as well as communication devices, data storage devices used to carry out terror activities.

Last February, the FSB also conducted an operation to arrest a number of members of Hizb ut-Tahrir in ten regions of the Red Bear Country, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Crimea, Ivanovo, Dagestan, Bashkortostan, Krasnodar, Kaluga, Oryol and Primorsky.

The FSB said in a statement at the time that Hizb ut-Tahrir was active online to spread terror ideas of intolerance towards other religions among the Russian population.

It should be noted that Hizb ut-Tahrir is still a banned organization because of the caliphate doctrine it has promoted, to replace a government that is considered secular with a world caliphate.