10:37, 22 March 2017

Case of Imam Velitov sent to court

Makhmud Velitov. Photo http://kavpolit.com/articles/velitov-30555/

The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has approved the indictment against Makhmud Velitov, the Imam of the "Yardyam" mosque, accused of public justification of terrorism, his advocate has reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that power agents detained Imam Velitov on July 11, 2016. According to the defence, investigators believe that the Imam’s words about Abdulla Gappaev, pronounced in his interview and at the sermon, were justification of terrorism. One of the mosque-goers said that Velitov had just "mentioned the slain person with a kind word."

The religious figure Gappaev was shot dead at night on September 16, 2013. His friends told that Gappaev received threats from power agents and was summoned to the police after the incident with a wedding cortege in Kizlyar with Islamic flags on April 27, 2013.

The criminal case against Imam Velitov has been sent to the Moscow District Military Court, said his advocate Dagir Khasavov.

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