Law enforcement bodies of Moscow Region ignore Kadyrov’s demand for punishment for raid at mosque

Despite the assurances of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian State Duma member Adam Delimkhanov about the inevitability of punishment for a raid on a mosque in Kotelniki in the Moscow Region, four days after their statements, the law enforcement bodies of the Moscow Region have not reported about any inspections of the activities of the law enforcers who disrupted Friday namaz (prayer). Andrei Vorobyov, Governor of the Moscow Region, has not commented on the incident either.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on July 7, law enforcers checked passports of visitors to the mosque in Kotelniki. Ramzan Kadyrov was outraged by the raid held during the Friday prayer, and the leader of Chechnya demanded to bring to responsibility the law enforcers involved in the raid. Russian State Duma member Adam Delimkhanov promised to punish those responsible. Sergei Melikov, the leader of Dagestan, supported the authorities of Chechnya by noting that the law enforcers’ actions should be evaluated by the competent authorities.

The “Caucasian Knot” has a lso reported that in April, Ramzan Kadyrov intervened in the construction of a mosque in Moscow, where an Orthodox church is already located. Ramzan Kadyrov said that opponents of the construction of the mosque should be mobilized or brought to trial. As a result, the Mayor of Moscow promised that the mosque would be constructed elsewhere. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov also announced the decision regarding the mosque and mentioned his negotiations with Sergei Sobyanin on the topic. Human rights defenders and Caucasian experts have suggested that Ramzan Kadyrov was interested in the topic on the construction of the mosque in Moscow in order to show himself as the main defender of Russia’s Muslims, although he formally has no right to interfere in any events in another region.