"At my age, this is actually a lifelong conclusion." The 60 -year -old publisher of Islamic literature Aslambek Ezhaev was convicted of 17 years

The Islamic Educator and the head of the UMMA publishing house Aslambek Ezhaev were convicted of 17 years on charges of financing the Islamic State - according to investigators, he exported cash from Russia to Turkey for the needs of terrorists for almost ten years. Ezhaev did not plead guilty and called the matter fabricated. In the last word, he said that such a period for him can be considered lifelong. "Mediazona" briefly talks about the case of the book publisher.

On the afternoon of April 27, 2021, the 58-year-old Islamic Enlightener and the head of the UMMA publishing house Aslambek Ezhaev posted on his Facebook a message about the sentence of North Ossetia George Guev, who was appointed six years of colonies, accusing the financing of terrorism-according to the investigation version, he transferred the 720 ruble of the Islamic State Terrorist organization.

Under the post - a dozen comments, but they do not concern Gueva, but Ejayev himself. The next morning, on April 28, the security forces came to the book publisher with a search. A day later, Ezhaev was arrested, he was also accused of financing terrorism.

The representative of the UK Svetlana Petrenko told TASS that since 2012, Ezhaev allegedly transferred money to the Islamic State, for which "he repeatedly held conspiracy meetings with counterparties from which he received funds."

“In the future, he transferred more than 34 million rubles to persons on the territory of Russia for committing a terrorist orientation crimes,” Petrenko added.

According to her, in the “country houses and apartments” Ezhaev discovered bank cards through which he, according to the UK, transferred the money of IG, “technical means of transmitting information, prohibited literature, and other extremist attributes”.

At the Center for Public Relations (COOs) of the FSB of Russia, TASS was completely said that Ezhaev “was a member of the conspiracy iga cell”, and also “was close to the connection” of Said Buryat, killed in Ingushetia 11 years before the detention of the head of Ummah. The book publisher did not admit guilt.

A native of Ulan-Ude Alexander Tikhomirov, better known as Said Buryat, Salafi preacher, one of the ideologists of the North Caucasian separatists from the Imrat Caucasus. He participated in the armed underground in the territory of the North Caucasus. He was killed during a special operation in the Ingush village of Ekazhevo on March 4, 2010.

"We do not publish books that could be used to do harm." Who is Aslambek Ezhaev

At the beginning of this year, Ezhaev turned 60 years old. He was born in a family of teachers in Shaty, at that time still Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. As Ezhaev himself told in an interview with the Caucasus. Realii during perestroika, he moved to Moscow and took up the book business, first issued children's literature, and in 2002 he founded the Islamic Publishing House of Ummma.

“We do not let out any controversial works from the point of view of Sunni Islam. The priority for us is classical theological literature, designed to help believers to form the right, in the spirit of Tauhid, the criteria for estimates of themselves and others, to help in solving everyday practical problems related to the problems of the inner world of a separate Muslim and with the problems of society, ”he said in an interview.

Ezhaev emphasized that he always worked within the framework of Russian legislation, and admitted that at first problems with the publication of the books “were much less”, but much changed after the adoption of the law “On Combating Extremist Activities” and its subsequent additions and changes.

“It was these changes that led to the fact that the courts began to consider cases to prohibit a particular book, articles, songs, inscriptions on the wall. If about ten years ago this list consisted of ten names, today it has dozens of pages. The law has become a weapon of local pressure. If earlier it was considered a classic detention method to throw drugs, weapons or cartridges, today they could accuse the fact that they had an article from the list of prohibited in Russia or the same book in the library that the local court prohibited somewhere in the Magadan or Norilsk region, ”Ezhaev said in 2017.

The courts recognized extremist several published “ummah” books. In 2020, the Samara court banned one of the volumes of the Russian -language translation of the interpretation of the Koran, made by the Azerbaijani religious philosopher Elmir Kuliev.

In 2012, the court in Omsk recognized his book “on the way to the Qur'an” as an extremist, and in the fall of 2013, the court in Novorossiysk banned his translation of the Koran. After the protest of Muslims and the open letter of the Council of the Muftis of Russia, the second decision was canceled .

“Kuliev is a secular man, candidate of philosophical sciences, director of the Department of Geoculture of the Institute of Strategic Studies of the Caucasus in Azerbaijan, and he did not have any“ reputation of the radical ”,” Ezhaev himself said to the Caucasian Knot.

The publisher complained that the courts were making decisions, "without delving into the problem, but guided by the instructions lowered by the prosecutor's office." And when they managed to “protect” the book in one trial, it could soon be banned in another: “We have no opportunity to fly throughout the country and sue each book. Most often, we carry out new editorial work on a prohibited book and publish under a different name. We did not publish and do not publish books that could be used to disconnect the Muslim ummah, harm anyone. ”

After the criminal case against Ezhaev, in the summer of last year, several more published Ummah books were included in the list of extremist materials.

"You, Aslambek Kaspievich, a bad person, so dear people told me." Sentence

As the lawyer of the book publisher Murad Musaev wrote , the accusation of Ezhaev “is based exclusively on the testimony of“ classified ”witnesses with common pseudonyms.”

“The testimony is about these:" I know Ezhaev for a long time, but I will not say where, but I swear that he financed terrorists. " As evidence of the movement of finances, extracts from the accounts of Aslambek are given, reflecting the receipt of money for the books sold. Of course, there are no outgoing transactions in favor of terrorists in these extracts. Payments in the printing house - there are, in the publishers - there are, to translators - there are no terrorists - no! ”, Musaev claimed.

The case was considered in the 2nd Western District Military Court in Moscow. The last word Ezhaev Sota wrote that "the case was built at the testimony of 15 witnesses, 12 of which were secret." According to the prosecution, the publication writes, Ezhaev was withdrawn money for the Islamic State in Moscow, and then transported cash to Turkey. “The fact of transferring money was not proved, and the accountant of Ezhaev was afraid to come to court,” said Sota .

Yesterday, during the debate, the prosecutor requested 18 years in the colony for Ezhaev.

“I, like the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, also consider ISIS a terrorist organization, and primarily in relation to Muslims of Syria and Iraq,” said the book publisher, speaking with the last word. “And I really hope that after some time we will not see their representatives along with the Taliban at the Economic Forum.”

He called the classified witnesses “employees”, another by the name of Begiev - according to the book publisher, was a witness in other criminal cases and “dozens of people were convicted according to his testimony”. He himself is not familiar with Begiev, the accused emphasized.

“Before me is evidence of a crime committed not by me, but against me. Investigator Braginskaya - I don’t know, on whose initiative, using the official position - organized a criminal group of the so -called witnesses in order to stipulate me, isolate from society, in order to stop, stop my activity in the preparation, replication and implementation of religious literature among the Muslims of Russia. I deliberately chose a terrorist article for this to make me toxic for law -abiding Muslims, hoping that no one dares to treat me with sympathy and sympathy, fearing criminal liability for the approval of terrorism, ”Ezhaev said.

He emphasized that the money was spent only on the publication of books. He called the criminal case fabricated. He describes his first meeting with the investigator Albina Braginskaya immediately after the detention: “She said without the protocol:“ You, Aslambek Kaspievich, a bad person, so dear people told me, they asked me: “Why is he still at the free?” Begieva? No? I thought that you will answer it more than 17.5 years, and you will fall more. You are a very bad person. " Just then I read this phrase in the protocols of interrogation of witnesses. ”

In February 2021, Alim Begiev was sentenced to 17 years in a maximum regime on charges of participating in the activities of the terrorist organization and financing of the Islamic State. As TASS wrote with reference to the UK, “in one of the applications, he created a group in which he began to invite trusted persons who agreed to finance the prohibited terrorist organization in Syria and Iraq.” The investigation claimed, about 30 people entered the group. In Moscow, the Moscow Region, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria, 15 people were detained. At the time of publication, 12 of them were already sentenced "to long terms of imprisonment up to 12 years."

In another meeting, Braginskaya, according to the accused, in response to his joke asked not to curse her, because she was “just a technical performer”, and Ezhaev himself should understand who “made a decision” on him.

“80 years ago, my grandfather, Honored Oilman of the USSR, judged the Troika, and he was shot as an enemy of the people. After 20 years, five of his sons achieved his rehabilitation. Today, for some reason unknown to me, I was appointed an enemy of the state and ask me to be sentenced to 18 years in prison, which, you see, at my age is an actually lifelong conclusion, ”said 60-year-old Ezhaev, completing the last word. “So, I will bequeath my five sons if I myself can not achieve justice, at the first opportunity, try to clear my name from the“ terrorist ”label.”

Turning to the Muslim community, Ezhaev vowed to Allah that he did not finance the Islamic State.

Today Aslambek Ezhaev was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Editor: Dmitry Treshchin