Mufti of Muslims of Crimea sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison
Emirali Ablayev. Photo: Muftiyat of Crimea Facebook
Emirali Ablayev, the Mufti of Muslims in Crimea, who headed the Russian-created "Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Crimea and Sevastopol," has been sentenced in absentia by a Ukrainian court to 12 years in prison, according to a Facebook post by the Main Directorate of the SBU in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The investigation established that the mufti encouraged Crimean Tatars to join the occupying forces and organized events where recruitment activities were conducted. Ablayev also appeared on Russian television, where he publicly supported Russian military aggression and justified Russian war crimes.
The court found the mufti guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 3, Article 436-2 (justifying, recognizing as lawful, or denying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and glorifying its participants); and Part 6, Article 111-1 (collaborative activity).
The SBU reported that the defendant is currently located in Crimea, but the agency is taking measures to ensure that he faces punishment.
As reported earlier, the High Anti-Corruption Court applied sanctions and confiscated the property of Metropolitan Lazar of Crimea.
Read also
OCU “hierarch” selling fake ID documents sent to pre-trial detention center
The Ivano-Frankivsk court has chosen a preventive measure for the OCU "bishop" suspected of issuing fictitious ordination certificates for the rank of deacon to evade mobilization.
Court postpones hearing in Upper Lavra case
The next hearing on the issue of allowing the brethren of the Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery of the UOC access to the churches of the Upper Lavra will take place on March 12, 2026.
In Chernihiv, Jehovah’s Witness believer sentenced to 5 years for AWOL
The Kozelets District Court of Chernihiv Region found the man guilty of unauthorized abandonment of a military unit and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment.
DESS initiates lawsuit to liquidate Korets Monastery
The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) is seeking the liquidation of the Holy Trinity Korets Convent of the UOC.
His Beatitude Onuphry serves litiya for fallen soldiers
On the fourth anniversary of the full-scale war, the Primate of the UOC led a memorial service and blessed church-wide prayers for peace and for Ukraine’s defenders.
Zelensky prays with Jews, Muslims, Catholics, OCU, and UGCC at Kyiv Sofia
At the event in St. Sofia of Kyiv, Sheikh Ahmed Tamim asked Allah for “victory over the enemy for the sake of Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses.”