ECCLESIASTICAL BOARD OF MUSLIMS OF CRIMEA UPSET ABOUT REPRESSIONS OF RUSSIAN OCCUPIERS
Mass violations by Russian siloviki of the rights and liberties of people and discrimination against them on the basis of religious confession are impermissible and should be immediately stopped, the Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Crimea (DUMK) declares.
On 6 May in a mosque in the village of Molodezhnoe of Simferopol district, Crimean siloviki conducted a raid for verification of documents of parishioners of the mosque. According to reports from parishioners, the raid was conducted after Friday prayer.
After receiving information about what happened in the mosque, the Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Crimea and Sevastopol sent to law enforcement structures a request to investigate the incident that occurred in a mosque of the settlement of Molodezhnoe. To which the muftiate of Crimea responded that "a scheduled raid was conducted by the Federal Migration Service for verification of compliance with the migration legislation of the RF."
Local Muslims reported to the muftiate of Crimea that personnel of law enforcement agencies demanded identification documents from parishioners. Persons who did not have documents in their possession were taken to the district police department of Simferopol. After procedures to establish their identity, all believers were released.
Muslims did not inform the DUMK about any violations of their rights or improper attitude toward them on the part of personnel of law enforcement agencies. However the fact that security forces chose for such activity the time of Friday prayer, the DUMK maintains, had a negative effect on believers. Many were frightened and questioned what the sudden verification was about.
"In our turn, we have appealed to law enforcement that such raids as they conduct for observance of the law should not violate civil rights and also should not make a painful impact on believers' feelings. We have appealed to our compatriots to be attentive to themselves and to one another. Two years ago Crimean Tatars joined the Muslim community of the Russian federation, in connection with which mosques may be visited, besides believers, by various people who are far from faith and far from Almighty Allah. And they do not always have good aims. Therefore we, Crimean Muslims, should be spiritually united and preserve peace in our land and not permit the shattering of peace and tranquility in Crimea," the statement says. This was reported by the press service of the centralized religious organization Ecclesiastical Board of Muslims of Crimea. (tr. by PDS, posted 12 May 2016)
Editorial disclaimer: RRN does
not intend to certify the accuracy of information
presented in articles. RRN simply intends to certify the
accuracy of the English translation of the contents of the
articles as they appeared in news media of countries of
the former USSR.
If material is quoted, please give credit to the
publication from which it came. It is not necessary to credit
this Web page. If material is transmitted electronically, please
include reference to the URL,
http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/.