Owner of Islamic bookstore in Dagestan complains about law enforcement officers' actions

The owner of the bookstore "Sunna" in the capital of Dagestan, which sells Islamic literature and souvenirs, complains against illegal searches and arrests of goods by law enforcement officers.

For instance, on April 29, 2008, Naryman Kerbanov, district militia officer of Makhachkala's Leninski district, Dagestan, visited "Sunna".

Makhmud Kurbanov, the shop owner, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the militia officer, after observing the goods exhibited for sale, took a couple of books and CDs ostensibly for an expert evaluation for the presence of "Vakhabit propaganda and appeals for kindling inter-religious and inter-national hostility".

The shop owner himself has long been in the list of suspects, and his shop is periodically searched. Until the current year, the law enforcement officers came accompanied by employees of the Spiritual department of Dagestan Moslems who pointed out which literature belongs to the Vakhabit religion. In 2006, goods for the amount of more than 25,000 rubles were confiscated and never returned, and in 2007, the financial losses of Kurbanov constitute about 60,000 rubles.

Kurbanov claims that the products similar to what have been confiscated are in free sale not only in Russia but also in other Islamic shops of Makhachkala.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has failed to get any comments from functionaries of the Dagestan Moslems' Spiritual department or from the administration of Leninski district militia, while Kurbanov says that, during the recent meeting, Nabi Isayev, chief of Leninski district militia, explained that "personally, he has no grudge against him, but the official clergy can not leave him alone."