14 February 2020, 22:01
Believers report new features of raids near "Tangim" Mosque in Dagestan
Today, in Makhachkala, in the vicinity of the "Tangim" Mosque, law enforcers were asking people to produce their IDs. The law enforcers' attention was focused on men wearing beards, believers reported. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) called the raid an ordinary security event.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that law enforcers regularly conduct Friday raids in the vicinity of the "Tangim" mosque in Makhachkala. The law enforcers explain their raids by concern for security in a crowded place. During raids near the "Tangim" Mosque, law enforcers usually stop cars only and do not ask pedestrians to produce their IDs.
Today, law enforcers were stopping people selectively, and they were writing down the personal data, one of the believers says.
In Chechnya, which neighbours Dagestan, law enforcers repeatedly conducted raids during which they wrote down personal data of young people wearing beards. It is a tradition among followers of the Salafi concept of Islam to wear a beard with a shaved moustache.
Believers did not complain about any negative consequences of the law enforcers' raids, reported Magomed Magomedov, the spokesman for the "Tangim" Mosque.
According to journalist Idris Yusupov, law enforcers write down the personal data of visitors to the "Tangim" Mosque to threaten them later with putting them on a police preventive registration list. Due to regular raids conducted by law enforcers, the number of participants of Friday prayers decreased, the spokesman for the "Tangim" Mosque reported in October 2019.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 14, 2020 at 07:45 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Ilyas Kapiev Source: CK correspondent
