NIZHNY NOVGOROD, November 25 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Rukavishnikov) - A court in the regional center of Nizhny Novgorod in central Russia convicted three members of Islamic extremist organization Hisb-ut-Tahrir (the Islamic Liberation Party) of spreading terrorist propaganda Friday.

Palestinian-born Russian citizen Al-Julaidi Ammar Mahmoud, the leader of the group, has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison. His Daghestan-born accomplices, Magomed Nurmagomedov and Yusup Magomedov, were given three years and two months, respectively.

The group recruited Muslims under the pretense of Islamic and Arabic studies.