The court dismissed the case of the former imam detained for mentioning the Maidan at a rally

The judge of the Privolzhsky District Court of Kazan, Tagir Rakhiev, dismissed the case of the former imam and Tatar activist Airat Shakirov. It is reported by "Idel. Realii” with reference to lawyer Igor Sholokhov, who represented the interests of the activist.

Shakirov was accused under part 5 of article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violation of the procedure for holding a public event) because of his speech at a rally-concert in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Constitution of Tatarstan on November 6, 2017. The police decided that by mentioning the Maidan in his speech, the former imam went beyond the scope of the topic of the Constitution, and detained him.

At the meeting, Shakirov's lawyer drew the court's attention to the fact that in the case file, the police "did not provide evidence that the activist's actions went beyond the purpose of the authorized public event."

Earlier Shakirov told “Idel. Realities,” which he spoke about at the rally:

I said that the youth in the villages are very unhappy with the reduction of the Tatar language and that if someone goes to the Maidan, they will definitely come.

The report on the activist was drawn up on April 12, six months after the arrest.

• in Shakirov’s apartment In October 2017, in connection with a criminal case against the All-Tatar Public Center (VTOC), a search was conducted . The rally at which Shakirov spoke was also organized by the WTOTS.
• In May 2017, Shakirov was fined 100,000 rubles for posting a video from a rally in Makhachkala on his Vkontakte page. He was immediately released from payment, since the video was posted in 2013, and the statute of limitations had expired on the case.