Lawyers: mosque in Shamkhal village closed illegally

A decision to close a mosque can only be made by a court. This opinion was expressed by Dagestani lawyers interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", who recognized as illegal the actions of law enforcers against the Shamkhal mosque closed at the request of the law enforcement agencies.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 16, the Salafi mosque in Shamkhal, a suburb of Makhachkala, was closed at the request of the law enforcement agencies. The senior officials of the local police station explained the closure of the mosque by the lack of documents proving the legality of its functioning in the village.

In his comment to the "Caucasian Knot", Dagestani lawyer Biyakai Magomedov has stated that "any liquidation of a religious community or another NGO, should be carried out only under a judicial order." "Other ways to close or liquidate a religious organization are a violation of the law," the lawyer has emphasized.

Biyakai Magomedov has also noted that religious organizations have no practice of appealing to the court for recognition of the actions of police officers as illegal. "In this case, if a religious organization appeals to the court with such demands, it will win the lawsuit only since the procedure itself is violated," the lawyer has explained.

According to Biyakai Magomedov, the police are not authorized to close mosques and liquidate religious organizations.

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