Russian Court Jails Man For Recruiting Islamic Militants For Syria

A court in the Russian city of Perm has sentenced a local resident to five years in jail on extremism charges.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on April 25 that Gairatzhon Tazhibaev was sentenced after being found guilty of recruiting fighters for Islamic militants in Syria.

According to the FSB, Tazhibaev had persuaded several local Muslims to join an organization called Jebhat an-Nusra, which is branded as extremist and banned in Russia.

The FSB says Tazhibaev also tried to organize their trip to Syria in 2015.

The group's voyage to Syria was stopped by the FSB in June when Tazhibaev was arrested.

Russian officials have said that at least 5,000 nationals of Russia and other former Soviet republics have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamic State militants.

Based on reporting by Kommersant and Interfax