Imam reports release of Muslims detained in Makhachkala

The Muslims brought to police stations during mass detentions in Makhachkala have been released home, said Nigmatulla Radjabov, the Imam of the "Tangim" Mosque. The Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said that they have no information about these detentions.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported citing eyewitnesses that on June 3, law enforcers detained up to 30 parishioners of the mosque located in General Omarov Street. Also, members of the republic's Muslim community reported that at night on June 5, about 90 people were detained during raids over Salafi mosques and halal cafes.

All the detained parishioners are back at large, said the above Imam.

"According to my data, they were released after copying their passports and fingerprinted," he said.

Magomed Magomedov, a columnist for the "Chernovik" weekly, believes that law enforcers prefer to conduct their raids on Friday, before or after the collective prayer, when Salafis are concentrated at their mosques.

He thinks that such raids are conducted in order to put their respective "ticks" in reports about holding preventive measures, and not for any real crime prevention.

Mr Magomedov is sure that the policy of raids in Dagestan has to do with the law enforcers' desire to demonstrate their worth.

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