MOSCOW, October 4 (RAPSI) – A criminal case was initiated against a man who recruited people for extremist activities in Moscow, a police source told RIA Novosti of Friday.

The source said that the man arrested was a Kyrgyz national. The suspect was allegedly recruiting people for the international terrorist organization Islamic Liberation Party (Hizb ut-Tahrir) from the attendants of a mosque in downtown Moscow.

Hizb ut-Tahrir was declared an international terrorist organization by the Supreme Court on February 14, 2003 and thus its activity in Russia was forbidden. According to International Crisis Group’s 2003 report, Hizb ut-Tahrir is a political organization whose aim is to unite all Muslims via the establishment of one massive state capable of counterbalancing the West.

In August, five members of  Hizb ut-Tahrir were arrested in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk by the Federal Security Service.  In December 2012, another recruiter was arrested in Moscow while distributing extremist leaflets.