Abdulrauf Zabirov (in the photo), the Imam of the Kazan mosque «Mirgazian», continued alone his fight against the initiators of the installation of video surveillance cameras by the republican branch of the company «Rostelecom» in all mosques of the city.
As we assumed, the State Council of Tatarstan did not support the Imam in his struggle and effectively sided with the authorities, stating that the installation of cameras in mosques was agreed with the Muftiate and was necessary «for the safety of believers».
Earlier, however, the official representative of the President of Tatarstan, Lilya Galimova, stated that the authorities were not involved in the «Tattelecom» initiative and asked that all questions be directed to the State Council and the authorities, although she admitted that, according to her information, «this issue is solely related to the need to ensure security measures in all crowded places».
Thus, the Kremlin in Kazan shifted the blame to the State Council, while successfully protecting the authorities.
Well, it is even sadder than one could have imagined. After all, one could at least hope for a «conflict of economic actors» between the State Council and the telecom companies over which of them would provide the video camera data to the FSB and the Ministry of Internal Affairs if necessary.
However, it seems that the initiative of «Tattelecom» to install additional cameras in mosques is approved by the leadership of the State Council.
For his part, Imam Abdulrauf Zabirov had previously appealed to the Prosecutor General of Russia, Yuri Chaika, against the unlawful actions of Rostelecom, pointing out their contradiction with the constitutional principles of freedom of religion and the prohibition of interference in private life.
However, it can be assumed that after the official statement of the State Council, the prosecutor’s office will be able to respond to the Imam in a legitimate way, stating that this initiative was approved by his leadership.
We will continue to monitor the parties’ positions on this issue.