On Thursday, March 28, 2024 a military court in Yekaterinburg found Azat Miftakhov guilty of “justifying terrorism.” Although the prosecutor requested a sentence of three years, the judge imposed a lengthier sentence of four years imprisonment, with 2.5 years in prison followed by 1.5 years in a strict regime penal colony. Azat was not allowed to finish his last word before the verdict was read although he was able to say that the charges are fabricated and based on false testimony concocted by the FSB.
This new verdict against Azat constitutes a grotesque injustice and a blatant case of political persecution by Russia’s authoritarian regime. Azat is a talented young mathematician who already spent over five years behind bars on a series of fabricated politically motivated charges since his initial arrest in February 2019. He endured mistreatment and torture by the authorities wile in detention. When Azat was released from the prison colony in Omutninsk in September 2023 to start serving parole in the infamous “broken window” case conviction, the FSB immediately re-arrested him on a bogus new “justifying terrorism” charge. Azat recently marked his 31st birthday while imprisoned.
We continue to demand Azat Miftakhov’s immediate and unconditional release. The international mathematical community stands with Azat.
The case of Azat Miftakhov 