A press conference dedicated to discrimination against Muslim schoolgirls in Mordovia was held in Moscow

Participants at a press conference in Moscow discussed discrimination against Muslim schoolgirls in Mordovia.

On January 28, a press conference “The Government of the Republic of Mordovia against headscarves in school” was held at the Independent Press Center in Moscow. Its participants discussed the situation in Mordovia, where, after the republican government issued a decree on the introduction of school uniforms, many Muslim women - schoolgirls and students - began to experience pressure from the heads of educational institutions, demanding not to wear headscarves in class.

The Supreme Court of Mordovia refused to satisfy the claim of the parents of schoolgirls who tried to challenge the relevant paragraph of the mentioned resolution. On February 11, 2015, the case will be considered by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

The press conference was addressed by Alexander Verkhovsky, member of the Presidential Council for Human Rights, director of the SOVA Information and Analytical Center; Honorary Lawyer of Russia, professor, member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee on Public and Religious Associations, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Religion and Law” Anatoly Pchelintsev; lawyer, chairman of the board of the Guild of Experts on Religion and Law, editor-in-chief of the journal “Legal Religious Studies” Inna Zagrebina; lawyer representing the interests of the plaintiffs in the Supreme Court, Marat Ashimov.

In addition, the parents of the affected schoolgirls, the head of the economics department of the Council of Muftis of the Russian Federation Madina Kalimullina and the chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Asian Part of Russia (DUM ACR) Nafigula Ashirov spoke.