Russia: Imam gets 3 years in prison for justifying terrorism

If the Friday sermons of imams in the West were monitored, there would be prosecutions like this all over Europe and North America. But it seems as if only Russia has the courage to go after imams now, no matter how much violence they incite and treason they preach. “Defense insisted that Velitov had performed a religious ritual allowed by canons of Islam regarding a deceased Muslim.” Yes, I am sure that what Velitov said was completely Islamic.

“Russian imam appeals sentence for justifying terrorism,” Rapsi, May 5, 2017:

MOSCOW, May 5 (RAPSI, Yevgeniya Sokolova) – Imam Makhmud Velitov has filed an appeal against a 3-year prison sentence passed on him for justifying terrorism, his attorney Dagir Khasavov told RAPSI on Friday.

On April 28, the Moscow District Military Court convicted and sentenced Velitov.

A prosecutor earlier demanded a 3.5-year prison term for the imam.

On September 23, 2013, Velitov, being a council chair and imam of a religious organization, made a public speech justifying activity of one of Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami terrorist organization’s members during a prayer in a Moscow mosque, according to the Investigative Committee. This organization has been banned by Russia’s Supreme Court.

According to the forensic examination, the imam’s speech contained a set of psychological and linguistic features of justifying terrorist activities. Defense insisted that Velitov had performed a religious ritual allowed by canons of Islam regarding a deceased Muslim.

Hizb ut-Tahrir (the Party of Islamic Liberation), founded in Jerusalem in 1953, is banned in several Arab and Central Asian countries. Russia’s Supreme Court banned the group from operating on the territory of the country in 2003, describing it as a terrorist organization….