02 October 2019, 11:27
Advocate of natives from Caucasus defends his right to visit his clients in colony
A court in Karelia has found it illegal to ban the advocate to visit the convicts, who are serving their terms in a local penal colony, said Victor Molodyozhnikov, an advocate for the natives of Dagestan and Chechnya. The court also upheld the lawsuit of Magomed Magomedov, a former Dagestani MP, who had complained about poor custody conditions in the colony.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 24, complaints were made public of inmates of the Karelian colony about beatings and bullying for their adherence to Islam. The complaint of Anzor Gubashev, a resident of Chechnya, convicted under the murder case of Boris Nemtsov, about the demand to interrupt the namaz (prayer), when a colony ward appears, was justified; however, the prisoner can make his prayer in a non-canonical form, experts assert.
Anzor Gubashev has claimed religious-based harassment. According to his story, on July 11, colony officers tore the cover of his Koran and threw a towel on the floor.
"The established regime does not allow administering all the prayers at the time prescribed by the Sharia. Often, some regime actions coincide with the time for prayers, and, therefore, Muslim prisoners can perform their namaz only in their free time," Abdul Aziz Dyatko, the Mufti of Karelia, has stated.
Prisoners say that according to the colony regime they should stand up, even if they are performing their prayers, the Mufti has added.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 2, 2019 at 04:14 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Rustam Djalilov; Source: CK correspondent
