In Krasnoyarsk, new prosecutions for studying Nursi literature

In Krasnoyarsk on January 24^th, 2014, Andrei Dedkov was detained on suspicion of organizing activities for the banned religious association “Nurdzhular”.

As confirmed by a criminal investigation under parts 1 and 2 of article 282.2 of Russia’s Criminal Code, in September 2012 Dedkov organized an “activity for the structural association ‘Nurdzhular’, recruiting citizens to participate in an extremist association and distributing banned literature, containing information meant to incite religious strife”. Over 400 copies of the banned literature were seized during searches “of the home of the religious association’s organizer and his active participants”.

At the start of 2010, the Krasnoyarsk administration of the Federal Security Bureau (FSB) began a prosecuting Andrei Dedkov, Aleksey Gerasimov, Fizuli Askarov and Evgenii Petrii under the same article. It was the first criminal case that we are aware of concerning the study of religious books written by the Turkish theologian Said Nursi. In March 2012, Krasnoyarsk’s magistrate court dismissed the case due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

From our point of view, “Nurdzhular” is a phantom organization and no such association has ever existed in Russia. In Russia, Muslims who study the wrongfully banned books of Said Nursi are confronted with unjustified persecution from law enforcement agencies. It is worth noting as well that Krasnoyarsk’s Muslims actively and consistently contest the bans on the Turkish theologian’s books.

Translated by Matthew McDonald

Sources:

• В Красноярском крае пресечена деятельность экстремистского сообщества // Сайт Следственного комитета РФ. 2014. 25 января.