"REPRESSION AGAINST BELIEVERS OF VARIOUS RELIGIONS INTENSIFIES ON OCCUPIED DONBASS TERRITORY"—SCHOLAR
Searches in the Al-Amal mosque in Donetsk and its closing, which were conducted by the so-called "MGB-DNR" [Ministry of State Security of the Donetsk People's Republic], are another step toward intensified repression with regard to believers on this territory. This was stated by the president of the Center of Religious Studies Research and International Religious Relations, Igor Kozlovsky, at a press conference in Ukrinform on 2 July.
"During the last month, various reports have begun appearing on this territory: local journalists on internet publications are circulating messages about the Muslim community, which is alleged to be extremist. The month of Ramadan had just ended when groundless repressions began against it. The house of worship, the Al-Amal mosque, was closed and representatives of this community were summoned for interrogation, and now they are under a signed promise not to leave the territory of the so-called DPR. I have known this community for a very long time, and there is nothing extremist there. These are ordinary believers who do not even have any political positions. They simply fulfill their religious precepts. This is evidence of a systematic approach to believers and not just to Muslims. Behind this there stands the policy of the Russian government, which it is conducting through its satellites on the territory of the DPR/LPR and occupied Crimea. We see in this another step of relatively intensified repressions," Kozlovsky said.
He noted that in the DPR there is active not only the "Ministry of State Security" but also an entire repression system, of both the local police and the prosecutor's office, and they all are controlled by Russian intelligence services.
"This step--the start of persecution of Muslims—is very alarming. And we call the community—civil society and news media—to keep it under control," the religious studies scholar emphasized
At the same time he added that "in the occupied territories of the Donbass, repressive policy is gradually being built up. At the first stage it was the formation of gangs that repressed believers simply because they were believers; they stole property and killed people. Then people were arrested. They disappeared—believers, political prisoners, ordinary businessmen—and the fates of many are unknown."
"At the present time, they are switching to a new tactic. If one follows the news, which they had on their television and in internet publications, one can see the sequence: first public opinion is groomed and then cries ring out: where is the law enforcement system looking? We have extremists who are distributing some kind of literature. And then, as if responding to society's request, the authorities conduct a search and they find this literature. We know this literature. It does not contain anything extremist. But for the ordinary citizen, this is an emergency. That is, they are switching to a new form: if we are a people's republic, there is a people's request and therefore we respond," Kozlovsky thinks.
As regards the "Alraid" All-Ukrainian Association of Public Organizations, which supposedly deals with the Muslim society in Donetsk, according to Kozlovsky "over the course of many years, both before the war and during the war, as a part of the civil society of Ukraine this all-Ukrainian association had a specific civil position and acted for the integrity of Ukraine against all infringements of our territory."
"And this certainly irritates the side that is against Ukraine. And they are using the position of Alraid in order to link it with one or another of the processes that are occurring on these occupied territories and to blame it. And then to establish some mythical link with the Muslim Brotherhoods and the like. That is, they are making a fake that messes with the consciousness of the ordinary citizen. Our goal is to destroy such myths," the religious scholar noted, who was himself held captive by militants of the DPR for a long time. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 July 2018)
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