Amid believers' complaints, Dagestani law enforcers refuse from raiding mosques

Law enforcers would not conduct the traditional Friday raid near the "Tangim" mosque in Makhachkala, fearing inspections by the prosecutor's office, where believers have turned to, believes Magomed Magomedov, a member of the mosque public council.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 7, the public council and the Imam of the above Makhachkala mosque, located in Omarov Street, met Alexei Gasanov, the Chief Federal Inspector for Dagestan and, on March 12, Denis Popov, the Public Prosecutor of Dagestan. They complained about regular law enforcers' raids near the mosque and that believers are labelled as "extremists".

On Friday, March 15, parishioners of the "Tangim" mosque noted the absence of mobile security posts near the mosque. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who was present in the venue, also noticed no law enforcers near the mosque or in the neighbouring streets, where they were usually located.

Magomed Magomedov, a journalist and a member of the public council of the "Tangim" mosque, believes that the raid was cancelled because of believers' complaints. "My opinion is that they (law enforcers) thought they would [be checked], and therefore stopped [raids] for some time," Mr Magomedov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 16, 2019 at 10:07 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.