Imams of Dagestani SAM clam pressure from police

In Makhachkala, the police put pressure on imams of the mosque visited by followers of the traditional concepts of Islam, formally employed at the mosques. This was stated by the imams themselves. According to them, they face with threats of inclusion in the police prevention registration lists.

The imams have reported that law enforcers request from them the information on their family members, mobile phone numbers, photos and fingerprints. Besides, law enforcers are also interested in the information about believers who come to the mosques for morning prayers.

According to Ibragim Abdullaev, the chief of the prayer room in the village of Uchkhoz, law enforcers request from some of the religious figures to provide information about themselves and their family members.

The Dagestani journalists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" have stated that the law enforcement authorities seek to control all the processes in the religious environment.

Magomed Magomedov, a political observer of the newspaper "Chernovik" (Draft), has noted that terrorist and extremist activities in Dagestan are reduced and that anyone who wanted to join the militants in the Middle East had already joined them.

Meanwhile, according to Magomed Magomedov, the traditional concepts of Islam become more powerful in the republic.

According to Milrad Fatullaev, the editor-in-chief of the website of the RIA "Derbent", in this context, the initiative comes from officials of the federal law enforcement authorities, who believe that the Islamic environment can generate radicals and be used for destabilization of the situation in the country, especially against the weakening of the economy of the country and the upcoming presidential election.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.