A police officer has the right to conduct a personal search of citizens if there is information that they may be carrying weapons, ammunition, drugs or other dangerous items. Women in niqabs and hijabs were also searched by female police officers, and no problems arose, the regional department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs told the Daily Storm.
“Unfounded suspicions by a police officer that a citizen has prohibited items on him cannot be a reason for detention and search. We can only talk about specific data (orientations, statements of other persons), but not about suspicions,” the police added.
Previously, the muftiates of Dagestan, Karachay-Cherkessia and North Ossetia actually introduced a temporary ban on wearing the niqab. They explained this decision by reasons of safety for the population. Allegedly, a woman in such clothes can carry weapons and other dangerous objects.
