Shaumyan villagers in Dagestan report that power agents detain mosque-goers

Local residents report about mass detentions by power agents of parishioners of the mosque situated in the Dagestani village named after Shaumyan. 131 believers were brought to the police station on April 4; and on the same day they were all released, says the head of the administration of the rural settlement.

A message about mass detentions in the mosque of the Dagestani village named after Shaumyan arrived on April 4 at the SMS-service of the "Caucasian Knot". "Today, in the village named after Shaumyan, power agents blocked the mosque and took almost all of the believers, about 300 people," wrote the author of the message.

Policemen brought all the parishioners to the ROVD (District Interior Division) immediately after the Friday prayer, said a local resident. "The mosque is considered to be a Salafi one. They checked the documents, some persons were fingerprinted, some were photographed; by 9 p.m. all were released," said the source.

Kurban Gadjikurbanov, the head of the administration of the rural settlement "Selsovet Krasnoarmeisky", to which the village named after Shaumyan belongs, said in his turn that the mosque was not blocked by power agents, but the believers were just invited to the ROVD.

According to his version, the operation could be held in the village within the month "No to extremism!" announced by the leadership of the Kizlyar District from April 1 to April 30.