A mosque in the Novosibirsk region and St. Andrew's Cathedral in Stavropol became targets of “telephone terrorism”

On January 25, 2011, police officers detained a 52-year-old resident of the village of Listvyansky, Novosibirsk Region, who called the Moscow office of one of the TV channels and demanded that a film crew come to him.

The man threatened that if his demand was not met, he would blow up the mosque. There was no serious motive for this act - the man assessed his actions as a hoax.

On the same day, employees of the Stavropol police, having received information about an explosive device planted in St. Andrew's Cathedral, were forced to evacuate the faithful who had gathered for evening prayer, as well as students of the Stavropol Theological Seminary and employees of the diocesan administration, who were in buildings near the cathedral.

In the course of the operational and investigative measures, a man was detained who made a call from a telephone booth located not far from the cathedral. A criminal case was initiated against him under Art. 207 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Knowingly false report about an act of terrorism”).

Sources

• inappropriate jokes // Official site of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Novosibirsk region. 2011. January 26.
• A resident of the Novosibirsk region was detained for falsely reporting a mosque explosion // Interfax-religion. 2011. January 26.
• In Stavropol, a homeless man was detained who made a false report about a bomb in the cathedral // Interfax-religion. 2011. January 26.