A resident of Dagestan accused of involvement in ranks of extremists

For 12 years, a resident of Izberbash attended meetings of the religious association “Nurcular”*. Now he will stand trial.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that after the death of Turkish educator, philosopher and politician Said Nursi (1878-1960), his followers founded the movement “Nurcular”, which was declared extremist by the Supreme Court (SC) of the Russian Federation in 2008. Said Nursi’s books were included in the list of materials banned in Russia.

According to the investigators’ version, in 2008, the suspect joined the association “Nurcular” and participated in its activities until March 2020: in particular, the man attended meetings “to study ideological sources.” The suspect faces up to six years of imprisonment.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on August 28, 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) pronounced a decision in the case “Ibragimov and Others v. Russia”, in which a publisher appealed against the decisions of Russian courts to recognize 14 books from the Said Nursi’s collected works as extremist. The ECtHR concluded that the Russian courts did not provide sufficient grounds to interfere with the applicants’ right to freedom of expression.

* The organization “Nurcular” is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia by the court’s decision.