Islamic action in Kazan held under Hizb ut-Tahrir banners for first time ever – eyewitness

Kazan, July 30, Interfax – The protest against the detention of numerous suspects in the attack on the Tatarstan mufti and the murder of the training division head of Tatarstan’s Islamic Department, which took place in Kazan on Sunday, was held under the flags of the Hizb ut-Tahrir extremist religious organization outlawed in Russia, Islamic affairs expert, protest eyewitness Rais Suleimanov told Interfax-Religion.

About 100 people took part in the picket near the Kamal Tatarstan State Theater organized by the Azatlyk Union of Tatarstan Youngsters and the Al-Ihlas mosque administration and believers.

The Tatarstan Islamic Department told Interfax that a two-year suspended sentence was passed on Al-Ihlas imam Rustem in 2009 for organizing Hizb ut-Tahrir activity.

That was the first time Hizb ut-Tahrir members had taken part in a public protest, Suleimanov said.

A similar protest has been planned in the same venue on Sunday, August 5.

The car of Tatarstan mufti, Tatarstan Islamic Department Chairman Ildus Faizov, 49, was blasted on July 19, on the eve of the Muslim Holy Month Ramadan. He incurred injuries. An hour earlier Islamic Department training division head Valiulla Yakupov, 48, was shot dead on the stairs of his house.

Both men were known for their firm rejection of radical Islamic trends.

Official reports said seven suspects had been arrested and a few more pledged not to leave the town. Several dozens more were detained for verifying their possible involvement in the attacks.

Source : interfax-religion.com