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Chechen leader calls judge national traitor for declaring Quran surahs extremist

The Chechen leader recalled that the surah Al-Fatihah, declared extremist "begins all prayers and actions by one and a half billion Muslims around the world"

© Yelena Afonina/TASS

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Chechen leader: Religion more important than law to Muslims

GROZNY, September 9. /TASS/. An appeal against a ruling by the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Court’s judge Natalya Perchenko who declared extremist some surahs in The Quran has been drafted on instructions from Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

"I am demanding strict punishment for provocateurs, who pronounced that decision in court and been trying to explode the situation in our country," Kadyrov said on his page in a social network. "If no proper legal action is taken, they will turn me into criminal in the first place. I will personally bring to them account, because in my life nothing is above the Quran. I am prepared to defend it to the bitter end. I am aware of my responsibility for my demand, and I will be prepared to bear it. Those who pronounced this decision (Judge Natalya Perchenko and prosecutor Tatyana Bilobrovets) are national traitors and shaitans (evil spirits)," he said.

Kadyrov’s next step after the complaint will be filing a demand for declaring the controversial decision as extremist and "deliberately aimed at undermining stability in Russia."

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"My comrades-in-arms and myself were reading the Quran while defending the integrity of Russia and fighting against international terrorism. We condemn extremism around the world… Back during tsarist rule tens of thousands of Chechens were taking an oath of allegiance to their country on the Quran and they heroically fought with the enemies of the Russian Empire," Kadyrov said.

The Chechen leader recalled that the surah Al-Fatihah, declared extremist "begins all prayers and actions by one and a half billion Muslims around the world."

Earlier, a Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Court judge, Natalya Perchenko, following a lawsuit by Prosecutor Tatyana Bilobrivets, declared as "extremist" a book called Dua (Calling out) to God: its Role and Place in Islam. Al-Fatiha and other surahs in the Quran were the centre of controversy. The term "extremist" was applied to such quotes from the Quran as "It is You we worship and You we ask for help (Al-Fatihah) and "Say, [O Muhammad], ‘I only invoke my Lord and do not associate with Him anyone.

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Ramzan Kadyrov Russia's domestic policy Religion

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