08 March 2008, 10:56
Movement against War in Northern Caucasus asks Alexis II to help Maskhadov's relatives to get his remains for burial
On the day of the third anniversary of the death of Aslan Maskhadov the participants of the Movement against War in Northern Caucasus have addressed Patriarch Alexis II for assistance in giving out of the remains of the former President of Chechnya to his relatives. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Irina Vologina, one of the authors of the appeal.
"We hereby ask you to use all your authority as a religious and public figure that Aslan Maskhadov's remains were handed over to his relatives for burial according to religious and national traditions," runs the open letter to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The anti-war activists are also asking the Patriarch to make everything possible for cancelling the "medieval provision" of the Law "On Burial and Funeral Business" that forbids to give out the bodies or persons killed at suppression of terror acts to their relatives for burial.
"Our appeal was signed by citizens of different faiths - Christians, Moslems, Jews, Buddhists, and also those who do not belong to certain creeds but for whom the principles of humanism are a priority. All of us are deeply offended by the situation when the society practises the legal provision that prohibits burial of a person by his or her relatives," the document runs.
Author: Vyacheslav Feraposhkin, CK correspondent
