31 July 2007, 13:01
Prosecutor's office in Kabardino-Balkaria denies the existence of Vakhabits' lists
The prosecutor's office of Kabardino-Balkaria has responded to the request of Kabardino-Balkarian public human rights center on the issue of a search conducted in the house of Ruslan Karabashev, resident of Nalchik, and his registration as a supporter of radical Islam, in particular:
"...It has been established that there are no lists of "Vakhabits" or "supporters of radical Islam" at the internal affairs department No 3 in Nalchik or at the department on fighting organized crime under the KBR MIA. The operational search and other measures have been conducted by the law enforcement officers with regard to R.M. Karabashev in conformance with the laws "On Militia" and "On Operational Search Measures."
Commenting on the response of the KBR prosecutor's office, Valery Khatazhukov, head of the human rights center, noted that "it is very strange that the MIA claims one thing while the prosecutor's office which supervises the militia activity - quite a different thing."
Zaur Shokuyev, lawyer of the human rights center, noted that fingerprinting, photography and search of Karabashev had been performed with violations of the law. No grounds for performing them were given, as Karabashev had not been charged with committing any offense.
Valery Khatazhukov also noted: "...it is absolutely abnormal that militia alone continue to deal with the problems of Moslems. There are a lot of different structures at the executive power bodies which are directly connected with the problems of the Moslem community."
Author: Luiza Orazayeva, CK correspondent
