Residents of Chechnya report on mass detentions of young men wearing beards

Recently, in Grozny and other large cities of Chechnya, law enforcers have detained dozens of young people with beards and shaved moustaches. This was reported by local residents. In Chechnya, the authorities treat wearing beards and shaving moustaches as one of the signs of the involvement in the Salafi concept of Islam.

In the course of meetings with the leaders of the Chechen law enforcement bodies, authorities and theologians, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov repeatedly emphasizes the need to combat followers of the Salafi concept (Wahhabism). Residents of Chechnya regularly report on detentions of young men with beards and shaved mustaches by law enforcers.

"We once again face the hunt for young people. Guys with beards are detained in the streets and brought to the police stations, where they are subjected to beatings and forced cutting of their beards. I do not know what kind of the law prohibits a man to wear a beard? What about freedom of religion and personal inviolability of a citizen guaranteed by the Russian Constitution? Recently, my nephew, a student of an institution of higher education, was detained and beaten at the police station. And the incident occurred, since recently, he lost his mother, and he stopped shaving in accordance with our tradition. It turned out that they treated him as a Wahhabi. When the circumstances were clarified, no one even thought it necessary to apologize for the incident," said Magomed, a resident of Chechnya.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.