In Dagestan, follower of Turkish theologian complains against his verdict

Associates of Ziyavdin Dapaev, one of the followers of the Turkish theologian Said Nursi, who was found guilty in Dagestan of organizing an extremist organization named "Nurdzhular", wrote an open letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev asking for help. Dapaev himself filed an appeal complaint against his sentence.

Ziyavdin Dapaev's criminal trial was held in Makhachkala. On May 18, Judge Vera Ivashkina found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to two years of conditional imprisonment.

"In Dagestan it's difficult to find justice; therefore we decided to write Moscow hoping to get reaction to lawlessness from there," Dapaev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The letter notes that persecutions began in 2004; and the decision of the Koptevo District Court of Moscow that Said Nursi's books contain signs of extremism had further exacerbated the situation – direct repressions of theologian's followers began; as a result, Dapaev was sentenced to conditional imprisonment.

The signatories of the letter are outraged that the judge, who ran Dapaev's case, has ruled to liquidate all the books by Said Nursi, confiscated from his followers. "This is despite the fact that this literature comprises books and pamphlets in the Arabic, Turkish, English and Russian languages, which had not been banned by Russian judicial authorities," says the letter.

According to the authors of the letter, the actions of the judge "are same blasphemous as the act of the American pastor who on March 20, 2011, publicly burned down a copy of the Holy Koran."

In her turn, Judge Vera Ivashkina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that comments on the case may be given only after the end of the process. "The verdict has not yet entered its legal force. When this happens, then, comments will follow," she said.