Kadyrov's regime accented by mourning ceremony ban for Musaev killed in Chechnya

The law enforcement bodies did not give out the body of Zelimkhan Musaev, killed while attacking policemen, to his family members and forbade holding a mourning ceremony to commemorate him, his relatives reported. The ban on memorial ceremonies is not practiced in other regions of Russia, note scientists engaged in oriental studies.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 1, a policeman was killed during an attack on a police checkpoint in the Achkhoi-Martan District. The attacker was identified as local resident Zelimkhan Musaev, and he was a drug addict, married to a woman whose relatives were militants who had left for Syria, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reported.

"They did not give Zelimkhan's body out to us. They took away his father and wife, and his brothers, friends, and acquaintances were also detained," said a relative of the killed man.

A MIA's official reported that earlier, Zelimkhan Musaev had not come to the attention of the law enforcement bodies as a supporter of militants. "He was put on the police prevention registration list, but as a potential distributor of drugs, since he was detained with psychotropic drugs," the MIA's official emphasized.

The ban on holding a public mourning ceremony to commemorate Zelimkhan Musaev can be explained by the fact that he attacked law enforcers, suggests Mikhail Roschin, a scientist engaged in oriental studies. "The ban falls out of the Islamic traditions. However, on the other hand, we understand that the situation is exceptional in Chechnya," noted the expert. In other regions, no such bans are practiced, the scientist explains.

In the Chechen society, it is not a usual thing to voluntarily refuse a mourning ceremony to commemorate a relative, reported Ruslan Kutaev, the chair of the Assembly of the Peoples of the Caucasus. He believes it is difficult for relatives to accept a ban on holding a mourning ceremony to commemorate the deceased man.