It’s been a long time since we wrote about what’s going on in our homeland, Russia. And that’s understandable, because we have to write about the same things. But we can’t not write about it — Muslims need to understand what is happening around them.
There was a time when we thought that the authorities were only targeting us, Muslims. Then oppositional Russian nationalists were also targeted, although of course they were treated much more leniently — where our leaders were killed, their leaders were sentenced to a few years in prison, and where our leaders were imprisoned — they got off with a slap on the wrist. Then other «non-believers» followed — Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses (they are now banned in Russia). And now they are targeting everyone — even for the intention of participating in elections and defeating this authority, which is essentially the essence of democracy.
Andrei Pivovarov, the leader of Open Russia, was taken off a plane, stopped and detained. Almost simultaneously, former State Duma deputy and liberal opposition figure Dmitry Gudkov was also detained. He was released the next day, however, with his passport returned to him… He got the hint and left for Ukraine as soon as he was released. But he was not alone — almost simultaneously with him, several people who had participated in the elections with the support of «Open Russia» and Gudkov also left Russia. For example, Oleg Khomutinnikov, a deputy from Lipetsk. By the way, in recent years he not only tried to establish the Federal Party of Russia, which advocates the protection of regional rights, but also expressed support for the construction of a mosque in Lipetsk against the «Orthodox community».
Explaining his departure, Khomutinnikov wrote: «Two years ago, the presidential administration prevented me from participating in the gubernatorial elections. They put up a municipal filter as an obstacle. This year, the Kremlin has come up with even more brutal methods of eliminating opponents — deprivation of the right to participate in elections on the charge of ‘extremism’ and criminal prosecution for leading non-existent undesirable organizations. I take my right to live in Russia literally. If I don’t have the right to participate in elections, I don’t have the right to live here.
Let us explain what we are talking about for those who do not know. While we weren’t writing about Russian political news, the State Duma, the Federation Council, and President Putin passed a law prohibiting anyone associated with banned and undesirable organizations in Russia from running for office. This means that anyone who likes a post by Navalny or Khodorkovsky, or shares their videos or articles, can now be declared an extremist and deprived of the right to vote. By the way, this law also affects members and «supporters» of all banned Muslim organizations — if they suddenly decide to run for office in Russia, they could easily be disqualified.
There hasn’t been such a massive violation of the rights of whole categories of «enemies of the people» in Russia since the Bolshevik, Lenin-Stalin terror. Now it is happening again — when warnings were issued about the rollback of the democratic experiment of the 1990s, many did not believe it would go any further. But now it is happening — we are somewhere in the 2030s…
The story of the Belarusian journalist Roman Protasevich was also reminiscent of the 1930s, when a plane flying over Belarus was not only intercepted, but forced to land, and he was paraded on television, publicly repenting and literally weeping for what he had done. It cost the sleeping kolkhoz dictator billions of euros lost to sanctions, but «Russia is a generous soul,» if it has to help another tyrant, it will. Vladimir Vladimirovich did not disappoint his colleague this time either — he showed that he is ready to crush the opposition at any cost.
But let’s return from this fascinating excursion to our Muslim affairs. We have said it before — if anyone thinks that repression against liberals or anyone else will distract the security forces from Muslims, it doesn’t work that way. Our brother Aslambek Ezhaev confirms this, and his first letters have already appeared on social media. For now, they just threw him behind bars and keep him there — even the investigators don’t come to him, probably too much work, they’re busy. But they can’t afford to hurry — in Putin’s Russia a person is kept in jail as long as necessary, even if no case has been made against him. They will wait until everything is ready…
Our brother Aslambek doesn’t have any illusions that the faithful will demand his release at least as much as his supporters did for Alexei Navalny. «In time, the wave of support will subside, but it would be good to remind people from time to time that such a person existed — drops can wear away a stone,» he writes.
InshaAllah, we will remind them, Aslambek. And we will do our best to wear away the stone that has held you and others like you captive — not only our fellow believers, but all conscientious people in this country, even those with whom we disagree on some things. We urge you to do the same — those who cannot do more can at least pray for him and our other prisoners.
For those who have the desire and ability, you can write a letter to Aslambek using this form: [link provided].
Recipient’s information:
Aslambek Kaspievich Ezhaev, 1963.
Moscow, SIZO-1 Matrosskaya Tishina.