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Mr. Ambassador,

On the morning of May 19, 2011, the domestic security agency of Russia (FSB) arrested a Muslim woman, Sidikova Oomidjan Ganeva (b. 1976), in Moscow. She was not allowed to inform anyone of her whereabouts, and her three children - a daughter, Meerkhan (12), and her two sons, Nusratullah (10) and Salahuddin (8) - were placed in a state-owned orphanage. The arrest of Sidikova, and the forced removal of her children from their home and family, came after the arrest of Sidikova's husband, Farookh Fadl Dinovic (b. 1972), on December 7, 2010. Mr. Dinovic was arrested upon allegations of membership of the political party, Hizb ut-Tahrir. His wife was then arrested to put pressure on him to confess to fabricated allegations. The court sentenced Sidikova to two months in prison.

This is by no means the first incident of cowardly attacks by your country against innocent people, and we assume that you are well aware of Russia's persecution of Muslims in general. As you continue to insist on targeting innocent Muslims, we feel compelled to address you in utmost seriousness. We write to you, not because we believe, you will heed our words; rather, we want to make you aware that such cases will not go unnoticed by the world's Muslims. The fact that even women and children are now subject to your unjust imprisonment and persecution only reinforces the need to bring the crimes of your country into focus. In spite of Russia's tremendous efforts to cover up the genocide in Chechnya, and despite the fact that you have killed several of your own citizens as part of those efforts, you must know that the entire world is aware of your country's crimes.

As an international diplomat, you are well aware of the intense protests, currently sweeping over the Muslim lands and resonating all around the globe. These protests and uprisings are the result of decades of tyranny and injustice, similar to what Russia these days continues to practice, especially toward its Muslim citizens. These uprisings mark the ability and desire of the Muslim nation to manage its own affairs, including the severe punishment of whomever dares to harm, insult or imprison our women and children.

As an international diplomat you must also be aware that your current Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly warned against the return of the Islamic Caliphate. We, the members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, are working globally, day and night, to achieve this very goal - re-establishing the Islamic Caliphate. Our work is purely political and intellectual; it does not involve any type of violent or otherwise material actions - this is a known and proven fact.

It is well known that the call of Hizb ut-Tahrir has found a particularly strong foothold in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. You should thus, of all nations, be aware of the potential of this call, not to forget the fact that not even the total brutality of your lackey, Karimov, against our members and supporters in Uzbekistan, has diminished our resolution or activity the least.

Hizb ut-Tahrir Scandinavia asks you to deliver this message to your superiors: We demand the immediate release of our sister, Sidikova Oomidjan Ganeva, and her children! We challenge you to present the slightest evidence that Hizb ut-Tahrir is, as you claim, involved in terrorism. If you do not manage this, and surely you will not, accept the consequences and bring your attempts to terrorize our members and supporters in Russia to an end, immediately! Do you imprison and persecute our women and children for no other reason than their Islamic beliefs!? These cowardly actions by the Russian authorities are but another addition to Russia's dark history of crimes against Muslims. Some things will not be forgotten, let alone forgiven...

Hizb ut-Tahrir

Scandinavia