A preacher from Dagestan denies knowing people suspected of financing militants

Abu Umar Sasitlinsky, a preacher from Dagestan, declared by the law enforcement bodies as an organizer of terrorist financing, rejected any facts of his acquaintance with other persons involved in the criminal case. Earlier, fundraising for terrorists under the pretext of charity used to be widespread, but tight control over banking transactions and charitable foundations undermined the practice, declare experts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 13, the FSB reported on the detention of seven persons suspected of raising more than 38 million roubles for militants of the "Islamic State" (IS) and "Jabhat-an-Nusra", terrorist organizations banned in Russia by the court.

The law enforcement bodies reported that the funds were raised under the pretext of building mosques and helping poor Muslims under the leadership of preacher Abu Umar Sasitlinsky. He himself claims that his foundation spends all the raised money for the construction of wells and mosques.

"In Bangladesh, we built 1000 wells for 350,000 euros and 75 mosques ... The funds come mainly to an account in Africa and sometimes to an account in Europe," Abu Umar Sasitlinsky said.

Gennady Gudkov, retired FSB Colonel, has noted that in the Western countries, charitable foundations and banks are tightly controlled, and it is impossible to finance terrorists through them.

Political analyst Denis Zhuravlyov has pointed out that Western banks actively oppose the financing of terrorism, but their participation in the chain cannot be completely excluded.

According to Yana Amelina, a coordinator of the Caucasus Geopolitical Club, on a smaller scale, money is still being raised for terrorists, despite tight control.