A court in Russia's Republic of Tatarstan has sentenced four members of a banned Islamic group to at least a year in prison on charges of recruitment and distributing hate literature.
Russia's Investigative Committee on October 2 said that four men between the ages of 35 and 40 were found guilty of taking part in the activities of the Hizb ut-Tahrir organization during 2013.
Investigators say the men recruited new members into the organization in the city of Chally and distributed posters and leaflets "inviting religious hatred and enmity."
One of the defendants was sentenced to 16 months in penal colony of minimum security. Other three received one-year prison sentences.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is a London-based Sunni political organization that seeks to unite all Muslims under an Islamic caliphate.
Russia's Supreme Court banned the group in 2003, branding its members and supporters as "extremists."