Associates of Rustem Valiullin claim discovery of his body

The body of Rustem Valiullin, the human rights defender and the lawyer, who was well-known for resonant cases involving Muslims and who disappeared in the Altai Territory, was found in a mountain river. This was reported by associates of the deceased man. Till present, the Ministry for Emergencies (MfE) of the Altai Republic has confirmed their report.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Rustem Valiullin, the human rights defender and the lawyer, who was well-known for resonant cases involving Muslims, disappeared in the Altai Territory on June 24. The Republic's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) once supposed that the disappeared man had drowned in the mountain Katun River.

On the day of July 1, the lawyer's body was found near the village of Manzherok of the Maima District of the Altai Territory in the Katun River. This was reported by Zhambolat Okhtaubaev, Mufti of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims.

"To the bitter end, we hoped for a favourable outcome of the case, and we prayed for his rescue; however, unfortunately, Rustem Valiullin deceased. He left his wife and four children," Zhambolat Okhtaubaev said. He has also confirmed that the victim was Rustem Valiullin "Muslims of Kosh-Agach, who carried out the identification, confirmed that was Rustem Valiullin."

However, a representative of the Department of the MfE in the Altai Territory does not confirm that the found body belongs to Rustem Valiullin. According to the MfE, the deceased man has not yet been identified.

According to Damir Mukhedtinov, First Deputy Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of European part of Russia, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, death of Rustem Valiullin became a great loss for the Muslims of Russia.