The activist from Adygea has been included in the register of foreign agents.
The Russian Ministry of Justice has added the name of Circassian activist Rustam Khuzhev from Adygea to the list of foreign agents. Less than six months ago, his details were included in the list of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring.
In January 2019, lawyer Rustam Khuzhev * commented to "Caucasian Knot" on the problem of insufficient teaching of the native language in kindergartens and schools of the republic. "When I was in kindergarten, we all communicated in Adyghe, and representatives of other nationalities also began to communicate in our language after a year. Now it is exactly the opposite - if a child knows their native language and starts going to kindergarten, they communicate in Russian there, gradually forgetting Adyghe," he said.
The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation updated the register of foreign agents today, including Circassian activist Rustam Khuzhev from Adygea.
According to the agency, Khuzhev participated in the creation of materials for undesirable organizations and other foreign agents, and is also a participant in an organization declared undesirable in Russia.
"He spread false information about the decisions made by the public authorities of the Russian Federation and the policies they conduct," the publication on the official website of the Ministry of Justice states.
Among other reasons for declaring Khuzhev a foreign agent, the Ministry of Justice noted that he lives outside of Russia and speaks out against its military actions in Ukraine.
Less than six months ago, on May 28, the data of 51-year-old Rustam Khuzhev from the village of Mamkheg in Adygea was included in the register of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring with a note of involvement in terrorism. The details of the criminal case that has been initiated against Khuzhev in Russia are unknown.
The activist runs his own expert-analytical project "Era of Circassia" and participates in the work of the Lithuanian NGO "League of Free Nations," which the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation declared "undesirable" in February 2023.
A comment regarding Khuzhev's new status was published on the page of his project on Instagram.
"Rustam Khuzhev continues to publicly speak about the problems of the Circassian people, the preservation of language and culture, historical memory, the situation of Circassians in the North Caucasus, repression, and the right of peoples to determine their own future. In the 'Era of Circassia,' the decision of the Russian authorities is perceived as yet another evidence of pressure on those who openly raise these issues," the message states.
A video comment from Rustam Khuzhev himself was also published on the page. "We also have lists of those individuals who commit crimes against people, against nations. These lists may not be published, but work will be done with these lists," the activist said in the video.
Rustam Khuzhev is also the Secretary General of the World Circassian Agency, notes the project "Politzek-Info."
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* included in the Russian register of foreign agents.
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