Construction of a mosque has been suspended in Kaliningrad

The Kaliningrad Museum went to court, demanding that the decision to allocate a site for the construction of a mosque be declared illegal. Construction has been suspended while the claim is being considered.

On December 2, 2013, it became known that the Central District Court of Kaliningrad suspended the construction of a mosque in South Park.

This decision was made on the basis of the claim of the Friedland Gate Museum. The museum located next to the construction site demands that the resolution on the allocation of two land plots for the construction of a mosque in the area of ​​​​Dzerzhinsky Street - Alley of the Bold - be declared illegal.

Until the court gives a legal assessment of the city mayor's resolution, it was decided to suspend construction. Bailiffs closed and sealed the construction site and construction sheds.

According to the chairman of the Muslim community of Kaliningrad, Irshat Khisamov, the religious organization was not notified of the consideration of the claim. Community members only learned that the museum had gone to court when bailiffs came to seal the site. Kaliningrad Muslims are confident that the statement of claim was written under pressure, because... the religious organization had a good relationship with the museum.

On December 10, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Nikolai Tsukanov, instructed his deputy to study the situation with the suspension of construction of the mosque.

“If there are people today who believe in Islam, then just like the Orthodox and Catholics, they should have the opportunity to conduct rituals somewhere. But if there are violations during construction, they need to be eliminated. But to decide by what methods is precisely the work of Kaliningrad: to look at what caused such a court decision to be made,” the governor said.

On February 19, 2014, a preliminary court hearing took place. The main trial hearing is scheduled for early March.

Sources

• The court suspended the construction of a mosque in Kaliningrad at the request of the museum // RAPSI. 2013. December 2.
• In Kaliningrad, at the request of the museum, the construction of a mosque was banned // Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 2013. December 2.
• The leader of Kaliningrad Muslims warns of possible unrest due to a ban on the construction of a mosque // Rosbalt. 2013. December 2.
• The governor instructed to deal with the “freezing” of the construction of a mosque in Kaliningrad // Klops.ru. 2013. December 10.
• In Kaliningrad, the fate of the unfinished mosque will be decided by the court in early March // Yantarny Krai. 2014. February 20.