2012-05-05 10:01:00

Lawyer who suggested Russia set up Sharia courts may be delicensed

Moscow, May 5, Interfax - Russia's Justice Ministry is seeking the annulment of the defense attorney license of Dagir Khasavov, who fled the country after suggesting setting up Sharia courts in Russia and warning the nation might be in for large-scale bloodshed otherwise, the Office of the Prosecutor General announced.

The ministry sent a letter to Genri Reznik, president of Moscow's association of lawyers, urging Khasavov to be delicensed, the office said in a statement.

The letter followed an investigation by the Moscow prosecutor's office into "an item in a program on the REN-TV television channel on April 24 this year about the creation by lawyer D. Khasavov of a 'Muslim Union' with the aim of defending Islamic law and reviving Sharia courts," the office said.

"It was confirmed that speakers in the report had made statements that aimed to incite hatred and hostility and to humiliate an individual or a group of individuals for their attitude to a specific religion, Islam, and that may be regarded as appeals for extremist activities," it said.

The Moscow prosecutor's office sent a letter to the Justice Ministry claiming that Khasavov had violated the law setting principles for lawyers' activities and the Lawyers Code of Professional Ethics.