12:37, 12 July 2018

Residents of Dagestani village complain about mass prophylactic registering

The believers of the village of Terechnoye, Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, during a forced mass "prophylactic registering". Photo by Magomed Razakov for the "Caucasian Knot"

The believers of the village of Terechnoye, Khasavyurt District of Dagestan, were massively put on the so-called "prophylactic registry". For this purpose, law enforcers blocked parishioners in the mosque after Friday namaz (prayer), local residents have reported.

On July 11, they sent a complaint to Vladimir Vasiliev, the acting head of Dagestan about law enforcers' illegal actions, Magomed Razakov, a deputy of the rural assembly, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Law enforcers, mostly in masks, without introducing themselves and without any explanations, blocked the mosque ... and began driving parishioners out and forcibly photographing and fingerprinting," the complaint says.

In March 2017, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Dagestan reported the cancellation of orders about the prophylactic registering people in the category of "extremist"; however, rights defenders still state the preservation of the practice of registering believers.

"Law enforcers were very rude with parishioners, and demanded to show passports ... They photographed us as criminals," said Zalipat Idrisova, a villager.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 12, 2018 at 06:01 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Tatyana Gantimurova

Source: CK correspondent