Tangim Mosque sees drop in popularity because of law enforcers' raids

Law enforcers copy the personal data of the parishioners of the "Tangim" Mosque in Makhachkala in order to threaten them later with putting them on the so-called "prophylactic registry", the journalist, Idris Yusupov, has stated. Now, much fewer believers attend the Friday namaz (prayer), a mosque source has stated, linking this fact with to law enforcers' raids.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that law enforcers are regularly conducting Friday raids in the vicinity of the "Tangim" mosque in Makhachkala. In March, the mosque staff complained to the prosecutor's office, after which there were fewer detentions, but raids did not stop.

On October 11, three mobile law enforcers' posts were deployed near the mosque; they stopped cars and recording drivers' personal data, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. Magomed Magomedov, a mosque representative, counted at least 60 law enforcers.

According to the journalist Idris Yusupov, who was in the venue of the raid, several mosque visitors complained to him that law enforcers had approached them. This happened immediately after the car of each of them was stopped during similar raids, Mr Yusupov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Back in March 2017, the head of the Dagestani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) announced the liquidation of all the orders on "prophylactic registering" in the "extremist" category; however, on September 21, the Imam of the "Tangim" Mosque in Makhachkala said that law enforcers had threatened to put believers on "prophylactic registry" if they continued attending this mosque.

When law enforcers changed their tactics of "registration", the number of visitors to the mosque decreased markedly, Magomed Magomedov said, adding that three thousand believers had earlier attended the Friday prayer at the "Tangim" Mosque.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 12, 2019 at 07:45 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.