Muftiate’s statement shows exceptional resonance of Nalchik CTO

The call of the Muftiate of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) to investigate the circumstances of the July counterterrorist operation (CTO) conducted in Nalchik is unprecedented, it evidences a categorical distrust of the society towards the law enforcers’ version, and to the authorities in general, the human rights defenders interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 3 in Nalchik, and then in Baksan, a CTO regime was introduced. The Russian National Antiterrorist Committee (NAC) announced that in the course of the CTO, five militants were killed in Nalchik and in the vicinity of the village of Baksanenok. According to the journalist, Nadezhda Kevorkova, prior to the CTO, all the five casualties were kidnapped.

The KBR Muftiate’s call to investigate the circumstances of the CTO is an unprecedented case, said Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the KBR’s Human Rights Centre.

“In my memory, this is a completely unique case when the Muftiate calls for an objective inquiry into CTO circumstances. We welcome this call: it sounded very unambiguous and speaks of the deep distrust of the society to law enforcers’ version," Mr Khatazhukov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Zaur Shokuev, a lawyer with the above Centre, has also treated the Muftiate’s statement as unprecedented, but found it somewhat forced in a certain way.

“This case has sparked a wide public outcry not only among the Muslim community, but also in the society as a whole; therefore, an absence of any reaction from the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM or Muftiate) would have been misunderstood by the society, to put it mildly,” Mr Shokuev told the “Caucasian Knot”, adding that law enforcers’ versions inspire no trust in the society, and this applies not only to the recent CTO in Nalchik. "All their versions are the same: all the so-called militants act in the same way and die in the same way. This gives rise to doubts about law enforcers’ statements and versions. The society demands the truth," Mr Shokuev has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 8, 2021 at 09:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.