The court extended the house arrest of an imam accused of calling for terrorism

On August 25, the Butyrsky District Court of Moscow extended until October 27 the period of house arrest of Imam Mahmud Velitov, who was accused of public incitement to terrorism. Thus, the court granted the investigator's request for an extension of the measure of restraint imposed on the accused. It is reported by RAPSI.

The imam of the Yardyam mosque in Moscow, Velitov, was detained on July 11 and then placed under house arrest, because, according to investigators, on September 23, 2013, he publicly delivered a speech in the mosque justifying the activities of the activist Abdulla Gappaev, who was killed in Kizlyar. Gappaev was suspected of involvement in the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization that is recognized as a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation and banned, according to human rights activists, without reason.

Velitov's defense presented documents, according to which the accused is a disabled person of the second group, and the conclusion of a cardiologist recommending that he be outdoors more often.

The defense complaint also stated that the linguistic expertise that analyzed Velitov's speech did not correspond to the alleged crime, and the authenticity of the imam's speech was not confirmed. Velitov himself stated that he did not know that Gappaev belonged to a banned organization. According to him, he "simply responded with a kind word about the deceased, as Allah bequeathed to do."