Press Release
St. Petersburg Newspaper: Hizb ut Tahrir Accused of Assassination Attempt of Mufti!
(Translated)

On 18/2/2016, St. Petersburg electronic newspaper “fontanka.ru” published on its frontpage in bold a fabricated article with blatant lies against Hizb ut Tahrir entitled: "Hizb ut Tahrir planned the operation of the assassination of Mufti Jafar Pennekaev in Al-Jami’ Mosque," and added that this comes in the context of investigations and arrests of those who are going to Syria; which revealed the truth about the events of 2012, and that Hizb ut Tahrir planned for the assassination of the mufti of the country’s northwestern region, because he stood up against the dissemination of extremist ideas in the city of St. Petersburg, and we learned from within the Intelligence Bureau that the plan did not reach the point of execution, since the Mufti has died in December 2012". End quote

First, it is common knowledge that the Hizb ut Tahrir calls for the Great Islam, which prohibits a Muslim from killing another Muslim, it is considered one of the major sins, Allah (swt) says:

[ وَمَن يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَآؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا]

“But whoever kills a believer intentionally - his recompense is Hell, wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment” [An-Nisa: 93]

Accusing the party of aggressing a Muslim's life is a complete fabrication and falsification, just as its accusation of carrying out terrorist acts, which is based on the brutal unjust decision of the Russian parliament, issued in 2003, which adopts fabricating any crime and linking it to Hizb ut Tahrir in Russia.

Second: All that came in the article is nonsense, simply because even the security apparatus themselves have not issued such an accusation against any member of Hizb ut Tahrir. “fontanka.ru” stated, after Muslims were arrested in the summer of 2014: "The indictment was issued on 11/2013 in accordance with Article 282.1, “any terrorist group”, and in the spring it was reviewed in accordance with Article 205.5, “organizing activities of a terrorist organization”.

From the above, the extent of the spin in the matter is very clear, and it was concluded in order to comply with lengthy and unfair sentences against members of Hizb ut Tahrir, because the agitation of society from the injustice of these Stalinist sentences against the party and its members has became apparent in Russia. What confirms the deception of this accusation is the same newspaper; because it previously published that the security forces punished harshly righteous and committed people who frequent  Al-Jami’ Mosque in St. Petersburg, who carry Russian citizenship and are from the Slav race like Roman Ivanov and Dmitry Mikhailov of Biskovski and Sergey Aabalakaf area of ​​St. Petersburg too.

Therefore, all attempts to tarnish the image of Hizb ut Tahrir in general, and its detained members in particular, show that the matter is politicized and carries the recipe of oppression.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Russia