A prominent Muslim figure who pledged to “cover Moscow in blood” if the authorities refuse to establish Islamic law, was charged for inciting hatred on Friday, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors acted after “studying” a televised interview last month in which lawyer Dagir Khasavov said any attempt to stop the introduction of a system of Shari’a courts would “result in blood,” a spokesperson for the General Prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Khasavov fled Russia days after the broadcast, after getting threats.
“We will turn [Moscow] into a second Dead Sea,” Khasavov told the REN TV channel.
Russia’s Chief Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin has condemned Khasavov’s remarks, and the Justice Ministry asked Moscow’s Lawyer Chamber to revoke his license.
Khasavov has insisted his remarks were misunderstood, saying he was the victim of a “large-scale provocation.”
His son, Arslan, said his father had been made a “scapegoat.”