Religious issues and persecution – Bimonthly Digest July 01-15
10.07.2024 – Two Muslims in Moscow found guilty of studying banned books by Said Nursi
Sova – The court sentenced Zurab Dzhabrailov and Jeyhun Rustamov to imprisonment under the article on involvement in an extremist organization.
08.07.2024 – Jehovah’s Witness from Krasnodar region sentenced to two and a half years in prison
Sova – On July 3, 2024, the Abinsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory sentenced Jehovah’s Witness Valery Baylo to two and a half years of imprisonment under Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code (participation in the activities of an extremist organization). According to the Investigative Committee, he should be sent to a maximum-security penal colony; according to believers, to a general-security penal colony.
05.07.2024 – Muftis of some regions have temporarily banned niqabs
Sova – On July 2, 2024, the Fatwa Department under the Muftiate of the Republic of Dagestan announced its position on wearing niqabs.
The fatwa department cited scholars from four madhhabs whose opinions on the necessity of wearing the niqab differ: some consider the niqab obligatory, others only desirable, and still others undesirable. However, all agree that in the event of a risk of temptation, Muslim women should cover their faces.
05.07.2024 – Another anti-migrant raid on a Muslim prayer house in the Moscow region
Sova – On July 5, 2024, it became known that a raid was conducted to identify illegal migrants in the prayer house of the local religious organization “Iman” in Balashikha near Moscow. Law enforcement officers checked the documents of those who had gathered for Friday prayer.
Let us recall that the police have already conducted raids on mosques and prayer houses on several occasions, including in Balashikha .
03.07.2024 – Case on “Sharia Patrols” opened in Kabardino-Balkaria
Sova – On July 3, 2024, it became known that a case had been opened in Kabardino-Balkaria under Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code (organization of an extremist community) against eight people – the organizer and participants of the “Sharia patrols”.
A 39-year-old resident of Tyrnyauz named Askhat is suspected under Part 1 of this article (creation of an extremist community), and seven others are suspected under Part 2 (participation in an extremist community).
03.07.2024 – Priest banned in Novosibirsk Metropolitanate for refusing to pray for victory
Sova – On July 3, 2024, it became known that Archpriest Vadim Perminov, a cleric of the Kainsk Diocese of the Novosibirsk Metropolitanate, was first transferred to a rural parish for refusing to read the “Prayer for Holy Rus’” prescribed by the Patriarch, and then banned from priestly service for a period of one year without the right to give a blessing and wear a priestly cross.
03.07.2024 – In Tolyatti, a native of Uzbekistan was fined for publishing a sermon by a pastor of the “New Generation”
Sova – On June 26, 2024, the Central District Court of Tolyatti fined a native of Uzbekistan, a citizen of the Russian Federation, for participating in the activities of an undesirable organization.
The court found him guilty under Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offences (participation in the activities of a foreign or international non-governmental organization, in respect of which a decision has been made to recognize its activities as undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation) and imposed a fine of five thousand rubles.
03.07.2024 – Parts of a pig carcass were thrown at the entrance to a mosque in Tyumen
Sova – On the morning of July 1, 2024, employees of the mosque on Melnikaite Street in Tyumen discovered pig remains on the porch of the building. The area near the entrance was covered with a red liquid that looked like blood (the mosque assumed it was ketchup) .
A video of the incident was circulated on social media, with a “nationalist song with extremist appeals” superimposed on the video .
02.07.2024 – Moscow metro passenger attacks woman in hijab with knife
Sova – On the evening of July 1, at the Kolomenskaya metro station in Moscow, a female passenger attacked another passenger wearing a hijab with a knife. The attacker was stopped by other passengers.
The victim sprayed pepper spray in the hooligan’s face. Both women were detained.
According to eyewitnesses, the attacker was drunk. The attack was preceded by a verbal altercation.
02.07.2024 – Scandal on social media over alleged doctor’s refusal to examine patient in niqab in Dagestan
Sova – On June 28, 2024, it became known that a patient of the Alter-med clinic in Khasavyurt (Dagestan) accused endocrinologist Evgenia Makeeva of refusing to conduct an examination because the patient was wearing a niqab. Social media users began to speak negatively about the doctor.
01.07.2024 – Occupied Ukraine: One arrest, one reported jail term, two releases
Forum 18: Russian occupation officials refuse to give any information about 44-year-old Ukrainian Orthodox Church priest Feognost Pushkov, arrested on 20 June. Officials have been investigating his social media posts and searched his home in Prosyanoe in occupied Luhansk Region. Fr Feognost was sole carer for his elderly mother. Unconfirmed reports say the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Regional Court sentenced a Protestant in her fifties to a 7-year jail term. She was prosecuted for comments at a home prayer meeting. Russia freed Greek Catholic priests Bohdan Heleta and Ivan Levytsky on 28 June after 19 months.