BEAT THE BROKEN

POWER AND PEOPLE

The Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of the Volga region asks the president to protect Russian citizens who profess Islam from the biased attitude of the authorities. Imam Muqaddas Bibarsov sent an open letter to Vladimir Putin, in which he noted a series of beatings...

The Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of the Volga region asks the president to protect Russian citizens who profess Islam from the biased attitude of the authorities. Imam Muqaddas Bibarsov sent an open letter to Vladimir Putin, in which he noted a series of beatings of believers in Sergiev Posad, Ulyanovsk and Maykop. The author of the message believes that "the events clearly demonstrate the threat of a split in society", and demands to investigate the attacks, punish the policemen and "generally change the policy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

According to Mr. Bibarsov, the incorrect attitude towards Muslims was noticeable before. However, the open beating of the clergy has not yet reached. Quite by chance, according to representatives of the DUMP, it became known about the conflict in the Ulyanovsk mosque. A group of preachers from the Tabligh organization worked here. Their arrival in Ulyanovsk was approved by representatives of the local clergy.

Policemen detained preachers and parishioners right in the prayer room. Six people “with the use of violence and special means” were taken to the department, kept for several hours in the “monkey house” and sent to the Organized Crime Control Department. Here, an “explanatory conversation” was held with them by a certain specialist in terrorism. The Tablighites were asked to leave the city within 24 hours.

Muqaddas Bibarsov believes that "the chain of tragic events for Russian Muslims has demonstrated the bias of the authorities in relation to a separate group of citizens." The author of the letter was especially outraged by the fact that the attackers were either not found, or (as in Sergiev Posad) they were immediately released.