In Dagestan, a follower of the Turkish theologian Said Nursi was sentenced to 8 years in prison

On May 31, the Izberbash court of Dagestan sentenced Ilgar Aliev, a follower of a Muslim theologian, to eight years in a general regime colony on charges of organizing the activities of an extremist cell and involving him in it. This was reported by the Information and Analytical Center "Sova".

The young man was detained in April 2017, at that time Ilgar Aliyev was 20 years old. The investigation considered that he involved young people in the activities of Nurcular, recognized as extremist in Russia. In addition, according to investigators, he conducted classes in Dagestan, where people studied the works of the Turkish theologian Said Nursi, and attended international conferences organized by Nursi's followers.

The court charged him under Part 1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (organizing the activities of an extremist organization) and Part 1.1 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (involvement in the activities of an extremist organization).

• The SOVA Center considers the ban on the Nurcular Association unlawful. According to human rights activists, there is no such organization in Russia, there are only individual believers. They are being unreasonably persecuted for studying the books of the theologian Nursi, they write on the center's website.