Residents of Chechnya report on new raids against young men with beards
In Grozny, the police detained several young men with beards. According to eyewitnesses, law enforcers carried out raids at the markets of the Chechen capital.
"On May 21, the police detained young guys at the 'Berkat' market. The policemen paid no attention to adult men with beards and mustaches; however, they stopped and detained only young men with shaved mustache and unshaved beards. It is difficult to say exactly how many people were detained, since the detentions were carried out in different places, and some young men were released on the spot. I saw the police detained three guys and took them away to some unknown destination," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Tamara, a resident of Grozny.
On the same day, according to witnesses, at one of the markets in the Staropromyslovskiy District of the Chechen capital, law enforcers also detained young men.
Residents of Chechnya regularly report on detentions of young men with beards and shaved mustaches by law enforcers. In late January of 2014, Ramzan Kadyrov stated that the republic should be clear "even of the spirit of" trends contradictory to the Koran, Sunnah and Tarekat, among which the Chechen leader mentioned Wahhabism, Habashism, and Tabligh. Meanwhile, in Chechnya, according to experts, a man's belonging to an "undesirable" trend in Islam is often defined by appearance, including beard and short pants, and double Friday prayers.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Source: CK correspondents