HRC "Memorial" states religion-based discrimination of resident of Dagestan

The Dagestani Prosecutor's Office has refused to check the complaint of Vazir Bazanaev, a resident of the Dagestani village of Chinar, who had stated that law enforcers persecuted him because of the so-called "prophylactic registration", the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has stated today. Human rights activists intend to seek a reaction from the Russian General Prosecutor's Office GPO).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 11, the HRC "Memorial" issued a special project dedicated to Vazir Bazanaev's case, who complained about the invasion into his privacy. Rights defenders have posted dozens of audio recordings of his conversations with law enforcers. Bazanaev was put on the "prophylactic registry" in 2013, and since then the man has suffered from the intrusive law enforcers' control.

After the publication of the audio comic strip (cartoon) about Bazanaev, law enforcers' calls to him stopped for some time, but they resumed recently, the HRC "Memorial" has reported today, noting that the man has passed the new audio recordings over to rights defenders. At the same time, the HRC received answers from the Dagestani Prosecutor's Office and the Prosecutor's Office of the city of Derbent, stating that they decided not to check law enforcers' actions.

"The offices explain that the law enforcers only conducted prophylactic conversations with the man "because of his practicing the non-traditional trend of Islam," the HRC "Memorial" told the "Caucasian Knot" today.

The HRC "Memorial" disagrees with these answers and intends to appeal to the Russian GPO. "We declare that there is no reason to disturb a law-abiding citizen because of his faith, because it is religion-based discrimination," the HRC "Memorial" reports.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 22, 2019 at 07:12 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.