State Duma adopts law banning recognition of texts of holy books as extremist

The State Duma has adopted in the final reading a draft law prohibiting recognizing as extremist materials the contents of the Bible, the Koran, the Torah and the Kanjur, and quotations from them.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 14, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted to the State Duma a draft law prohibiting recognizing as extremist materials the texts of holy writings. On October 20, the draft law was approved by the State Duma Committee for Security and Anti-Corruption and recommended for adoption in the first reading. On October 23, the draft law was adopted by the State Duma in the first reading.

In the evening of November 11, at the plenary session, MPs voted for adoption of the draft law at first in the second and then in the third readings. 335 MPs deputies voted "for" the adoption of the draft law, the website of the State Duma reported on November 11.

The "Caucasian Knot" has also reported that on August 12, the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court recognized as an extremist material the book "Prayer (dua) to Allah: its meaning and place in Islam", which consisted of the translation of the Koran verses and sayings attributed to the Prophet Muhammad. On September 8, a copy of the Court's decision was disseminated in the Internet and caused discontent of Russian Muslims. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov filed an appeal against the decision of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court, and on November 5, after its consideration, the Sakhalin Regional Court cancelled the decision of the court of first instance. An official representing Ramzan Kadyrov's interests requested to bring to justice the judge of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court and the public prosecutor, who had legalized the controversial decision.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.