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Ruler Kadyrov: Russia's self-proclaimed defender of the Islamic faith
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Tatyana Barybina / ITAR-TASS / IMAGO
In Chechnya, a man was convicted of burning the Koran after being beaten on camera by the son of the local ruler.
Nikita Shuravel was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, according to the state news agency Tass.
The 20-year-old was arrested in May 2023 after he burned a copy of the Koran in front of a mosque in Volgograd, 800 kilometers from the Chechen capital Grozny.
A video of the action quickly spread on Telegram and brought representatives of the Islamic clergy onto the scene.
For example, the mufti of the Volgograd region said that it was a provocation by Ukrainian or Western special services.
The next day, 19-year-old Ukrainian Shuravel was arrested by the local FSB.
Immediately after the arrest, the confession came: Shuravel had allegedly burned the Koran on behalf of the Ukrainian security service for 10,000 rubles (around 100 euros) and immediately gave the video to his contact
.
The case was transferred to Chechnya by Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Russian Investigative Committee, on the grounds that there had been many requests for it.
A video was later released showing ruler Ramzan Kadyrov's son kicking and punching Shuravel in custody.
A representative of a Russian lawyers' association, Yevgeny Smirnov, said the sentence could be considered lenient given the beatings and public humiliation.
Shuravel faced up to ten years in prison.
Chechnya has a predominantly Muslim population, and Kadyrov portrays himself as Russia's leading defender of the Islamic faith. Under his leadership, the region enjoys comparatively wide leeway from President Vladimir Putin in return for regional stability.
eru/Reuters