02 November 2015, 11:33
Grozny residents report about new mass detentions of young men with beards
In the central marketplace of Grozny "Berkat" power agents conducted a mass detention of young men with beards and shaved moustaches, eyewitnesses assert. According to their stories, the young men were loaded into several buses and taken away to some unknown place. A police source told about preventive measures.
The authorities of Chechnya consider wearing a beard and shaving moustache to be one of the indications that a man belongs to the Salafi trend of Islam.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that last week, residents of Grozny and other main cities of Chechnya reported about detentions of young people for wearing beards and shaving their moustaches. In particular, such detentions took place on October 27 in Grozny. According to eyewitnesses, power agents detained young men in streets, and took them out of buses and fixed-rout taxis. Police sources asserted that they had received a tacit order to make checks from "above".
As reported by local residents, the young men detained for wearing beards were subjected to insults and beatings.
According to the Imam of one of Chechen mosques, wearing a beard with completely shaved moustaches has become a sort of a fashion for some young people in the republic.
It should be noted that since March 2014, Imams of Grozny mosques are obliged to monitor the appearance of their parishioners and to submit weekly progress reports. The appropriate instructions were given to them by Adam Ilyasov, the Qadi (Islamic Judge) of Grozny.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Source: CK correspondents
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