A prominent imam in Dagestan has been arrested after a conflict with the republic's muftiate.

Religious figure Akhmad Batlukhsky, who had previously criticized the local muftiate and its head, Akhmed Abdullayev, has been arrested in Dagestan. The former imam was persecuted after his home in the village of Batlukh in the Shamilsky District was set on fire and his mother was evicted, forcing him to leave Russia. In the spring of 2025, Batlukhsky was placed on the wanted list on charges of slander.

Shamil Khadulayev, Chairman of the Public Monitoring Commission of Dagestan, announced Batlukhsky's arrest for 29 days. He was detained at the Moscow airport and taken to Makhachkala.

The prosecution stemmed from Batlukhsky's posts on an Avar-language Telegram channel in March 2024, which were complained about by the secretary of the muftiate. The publication notes that the preacher accused the muftiate of falsifying documents about his drug addiction and summoned muftiate representatives to a Sharia court.

Batlukhsky's lawyer claimed the arrest was unlawful, emphasizing that this was the first time he had been detained on defamation charges, and that the trial was a formality.

Akhmad Batlukhsky held various positions in the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Dagestan. He began his career as an imam in the villages of Nechayevka and Dylym, and then worked in the Shamilsky, Kazbekovsky, and Tsumadinsky districts. In Makhachkala, he was deputy chairman of the council of imams, and in November 2021, he was appointed representative of the muftiate in the northern territorial district of Dagestan. He resigned from this position, as he explained, because he "came to the firm conclusion that the muftiate's policies are not consistent with Sharia law."

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