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Crimean Tatars Memorial Ceremony, May 18, 2014 (Photo illustration). MAX VETROV / AFP

A very heavy sentence was pronounced against six Crimean Tatars on Tuesday, November 12 in Russia. Accused of terrorism and conspiracy against the state, the six men were sentenced to between 7 and 19 years in prison.

With our correspondent in Moscow , Daniel Vallot

It was on the premises of a military court in Rostov-on-Don that the verdict was handed down. The heaviest sentences were passed against Muslim Alyev and Enver Bekirov, accused of leading the cell that the Russian authorities claim to have dismantled in 2016. The other four defendants received sentences ranging from 6 to 12 years in prison.

►To read : Persecuted Tatars in Crimea, accuses Human Rights Watch

All are accused of being part of the banned Hizb Ut Tahrir group and planning terrorist acts to seize power. All these charges were rejected en bloc by the six men.

Parody of justice

This is not the first time that Crimean Tatars have been sentenced by Russia to prison terms since the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula. In a statement, the NGO Amnesty International denounced a verdict of great cruelty, and described the trial as a travesty of justice.

Since the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014, many voices have come to denounce the repression of the Tatars of the peninsula, under cover of the fight against terrorism. Since 2014, dozens of Tatars have been arrested and detained in Russia.