Human rights activists of Kabardino-Balkaria support the Moslems

It has become known to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that on May 21 and 24 the four Moslems who had earlier sent a letter to President of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) with a request to open a mosque were detained and delivered to the Organized Crime Combating Unit (UBOP) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Kabardino-Balkaria.

Valery Elmesov, one of the Moslems, has told the following about the circumstances of detention:

"On May 24, I came home and saw six persons in camouflage with sub-machine guns. They suggested me to go with them to the MIA's UBOP of the KBR but did not present any summon.

I had to obey and got into their car. I was brought to the MIA's UBOP of the KBR, where they started to ask me whether I had written the letter to the President about opening a mosque, and if I had, what for I had done it.

It was mentioned during the interrogation that they were simply talking to us, but soon would 'break our bones,' that we... take five times a day the 'crayfish pose,' which is, in our opinion, the insult of our religion."

It is also known that other cases of bringing law-abiding Moslems to the militia took place recently.

"Incidents of this sort should be considered by the authorities in the most serious manner. Everything that is done in relation to Moslems should be transparent. We should not forget the bitter lessons of October 13, 2005," Valery Hatazhukov, head of the Kabardino-Balkarian human rights centre, has noted.