Moscow District Military Court on the basis of the Leningrad District Military Court sentenced Atabek Rustamov, accused of recruiting to Islamic State through WhatsApp, to seven years to be served in a general regime penal colony. Russian media reported.
Atabek Rustamov was found guilty under the article: Recruitment or other involving of a person in terrorist activities of the Criminal Code of the Russia Federation. The defendant did not admit guilt.
According to the investigation, Atabek Rustamov was a supporter of the radical trend of Islam, propagandized the ideas of «world jihad» and approved the activities of the Islamic State.
In December 2015, the defendant created a group chat in WhatsApp. The investigation stresses that the account in the messenger was tied to a phone number belonging to Rustamov.
According to the investigation, the defendant, trying to recruit chat participants for organization of an attack, wanted with the help of supporters to organize a terrorist organization or bandit group. He created a group in WhatsApp, where he added Azibek Rustamov and a number of users.
«In this group, Rustamov conducted a brainwashing of its participants, expressed in involving them in terrorist activities through beliefs in the religious unity of the Muslims, correctness of the activities of the Islamic State organization and the need to commit violent acts against people of a different religion, committing terrorist attacks and participation in the illegal armed group,» press service of the court said.
According to Interfax Russia, together with the native of Kyrgyzstan Atabek Rustamov, in April 2017, the court arrested his brother Azizbek Rustamov, as well as Zhurabek Muratov, Islambek Oibek, Bahadir Madrakhimov, Feruza Inakov, Shukhrat Satymbaev and Iskander Nurbaev.
Initially, the investigation believed that the recruiters could be associated with the perpetrator of the terrorist attack in St. Petersburg metro. Later, this information was not confirmed.
In August, the court sentenced Satymbaev to 50,000 fine for being a member of a WhatsApp group chat where Islamic State supporters were recruited and did not inform the law enforcement authorities about this.
