In Makhachkala, employees of Islamic cafes report on mass detentions carried out during police raid

Since October 12, in Makhachkala, policemen carry out mass detention of employees of the network of Islamic cafes "Azbar" and Islamic restaurant "Room". This was stated by staff members of cafes and human rights defenders. According to their information, about 20-25 employees of the Islamic cafes were brought to the Soviet ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala.

On October 13, in Makhachkala, five employees of the cafe "Room" were detained by policemen. This was reported by Aisha Selimkhanova, an activist from the NGO "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy). The day before, on October 12, two employees and two visitors of the Makhachkala cafe "Room" were detained. Two visitor of the café were detained together with them.

The message about the mass detentions of employees of the network of Islamic cafes "Azbar" and Islamic restaurant "Rum Centre" was also received by SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot". "The policemen detained people without showing their IDs and without explaining reasons for detentions," states the author of the message.

The detainees have also stated that staff members of the ROVD conduct compulsory fingerprinting procedure. "We do not want to get fingerprinted; however, they do not even ask us and compulsory fingerprint us," said an employee of the network of Islamic cafes "Azbar", who preferred to remain anonymous.