- Sputnik International
Russia
The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

Russia's top Muslim authority says Moscow region attack was well planned

Subscribe

Moscow, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's top Muslim authority said Friday's attack on a Muslim prayer house in the town of Sergiyev Posad, the Moscow region, was a well-planned act to stir up inter-ethnic and religious hatred.

"It was not a case of hooliganism but a well-planned act seeking to fuel inter-ethnic hatred," a spokesman for the Council of Muftis told a news conference Monday.

The Council urged the Moscow region police department to investigate the crime and plans to ask the Russian interior minister and the prosecutor general's office to oversee the probe.

A statement released by the Council Saturday said that a group of skinheads armed with reinforcement bars and shovels had broken into a Muslim prayer house, beating and severely injuring local Muslim leader Arsan Sadriyev. However, the regional police department denied the attack on the prayer house, saying that Sadriyev had been beaten by two drunken locals, who had nothing to do with skinheads.

The spokesman for the Council said that, in general, relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the Moscow region, where several generations of Muslims have lived, were positive. According to the Council, there are 1,300 churches and six mosques in the Moscow region.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала