A Dagestan fighter faces a real prison sentence for desecrating a Buddhist temple in Kalmykia. A wrestler from Dagestan who desecrated a Buddha in Kalmykia apologized to local residents. How an athlete from Dagestan desecrated a Buddha
A resident of Dagestan who desecrated a Buddha statue in Kalmykia was taken into custody for two months. The desecrated statue will undergo a cleansing ceremony on Tuesday. In Kalmykia and Dagestan they hope that after an apology from official representatives of Dagestan, the incident will not develop into an interethnic confrontation. Some experts consider both the arrest and the criminal case itself, initiated after the incident on the grounds of insulting the feelings of believers, to be excessive: from their point of view, this legal structure, which appeared in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation shortly after the Pussy Riot rally in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, is in itself not completely worked out and weakens the position of the accused in advance.
A Dagestani man, who on the night of April 2 desecrated a Buddha statue in the capital of Kalmykia, Elista, recorded his actions on video and broadcast it on the Internet social network, was arrested for two months. The Elista City Court authorized the arrest of the suspect in a criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 148 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (public actions expressing clear disrespect for society and committed with the aim of insulting the religious feelings of believers, committed in places specially designed for worship, other religious rites and ceremonies). A violator may face imprisonment for up to three years.
The incident with the desecration of the statue caused outrage in Kalmykia, but has not yet developed into an interethnic confrontation. Already on Saturday night, residents of Elista obtained an apology from the hotel where the athletes who came to the freestyle wrestling tournament were staying: the culprit of the incident himself was forced to ask for forgiveness on his knees. At the same time, some Elista residents complain about provocative inaccuracies made by journalists and bloggers in covering events. Users from other Buddhist regions of Russia - Buryatia and Tuva - eagerly joined the virtual discussion, who generally approved of the harsh reaction of the Elistinians, who immediately demanded an apology from the guest. On the other hand, Tuvan journalist Sayana Mongush is “embarrassed and upset” by the readiness for retaliatory aggression and recalls the burning of a Muslim prayer room near Elista in July 2014 as a “dubious feat.” “It is a feat to maintain sanity in the face of incessant invitations to fight,” says Mrs. Mongush. In turn, the majority of Dagestani commentators condemned the action of their fellow countryman, although there were many statements condemning the inaction of the police, who, according to users, allowed the athlete to be humiliated by the crowd. The most radically minded users, in the context of the inaction of the authorities, also recalled the arson of a prayer room in 2014, as well as the desecration in 2006 of a mosque in the village of Prikumsky on the border of Kalmykia with Dagestan and the Stavropol Territory, where a pig’s head was planted.
There was no information on the official Dagestani resources about the incident in Elista until Monday (a statement published on Sunday by the chairman of the Dagestani Committee on Freedom of Conscience and Interaction with Religious Organizations was also removed from the website of the republican news agency).
On Monday, Kommersant received a comment from the representative of the Dagestan government in Kalmykia, Magomed-Rasul Umalatov. According to him, more than 20 thousand natives of Dagestan live and work in Kalmykia: most of them are employed in livestock farming, and city residents, as a rule, are trying to develop their business or get a job in law enforcement agencies. Mr. Umalatov told Kommersant that he had not received any complaints from Dagestanis living in this republic after the conflict in Elista: “Local Dagestanis and fellow countrymen from Dagestan call me, and everyone unanimously condemns the act of this scoundrel.” .
The head of Kalmykia, Alexey Orlov, said that the head of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, also apologized to the people of Kalmykia, who sent the chairman of the government of the republic, Abdusamad Hamidov, to Elista. He, in the presence of Alexei Orlov and media representatives, made an official statement: “Our peoples have always lived as good neighbors. Thousands of Dagestanis live peacefully next to the Kalmyk people. They live together, work, respecting the religious and spiritual values of our fraternal people. That's why we wanted to make a deep apology. The actions of some young people disgrace our republic as a whole. Let us assure you that this fact will not go unpunished.” According to Mr. Gamidov, the coach of the national team, who brought the Dagestan team to the competition in Elista, has already been fired.
Meanwhile, the Sunday statement by the chairman of the Dagkomreligiya, Magomed Abdurakhmanov, contained a sharp condemnation of “the extremely unseemly act of the Dagestan athlete, which was expressed in insulting the religious feelings of the residents of Kalmykia, where he was visiting”: “It is impossible and impossible to justify elementary disregard for the norms of living together in a single country where There live representatives of the most different cultures and beliefs, neither age nor ignorance. However, a negative attitude towards the action of one person should not be transferred to the entire republic, where from time immemorial many nationalities with different cultural traditions and religious views have peacefully coexisted.” The chairman of the committee proposed inviting representatives of the Muftiate of Dagestan to the gyms so that they could lecture the athletes on religious tolerance.
On the morning of April 4, a statement was finally published by the press service and information department of the administration of the head and government of Dagestan “in connection with the events in Elista”: “This incident was unconditionally condemned by the Dagestanis. Ignorance, lack of culture, and the extremely low level of education of some young people, unfortunately, entail actions that have no justification. A telephone conversation has already taken place at the level of the leaders of Dagestan and the Republic of Kalmykia. A government delegation headed by the Chairman of the Government of Dagestan Abdusamad Hamidov visited Elista. Relevant work is being carried out by law enforcement agencies, the young man’s parents have apologized... The incident will not go without a proper response.”
Experts interviewed by Kommersant believe that an apology could have been limited. Member of the Presidential Human Rights Council (HRC) Pavel Chikov does not agree with the qualification of the Dagestan fighter’s act at the current stage: “Without clarifying the motive of the accused, it is impossible to assert the fact of insult; there must be direct intent. Whether he showed stretching or insulted Buddhists - this needs to be established,” he told a Kommersant correspondent. According to the HRC member, taking the accused into custody in this case is “a clearly excessive and unreasonable reaction.” “The very criminalization of insulting the feelings of believers seems excessive, and now they are also deprived of freedom for it,” said Mr. Chikov. Islamic activist from Dagestan Ali Charinsky believes that the conflict was settled when the fighter who had insulted Buddhists was on his knees and apologizing: “If he saved his friends from the massacre, then he did everything right. And the fact that everything was stopped so quickly is also true. I only hope that there will be no backlash from the Kalmyks against Muslims, that would be dangerous.”
The desecrated Buddha statue will undergo a cleansing ceremony on Tuesday, Culture and Tourism Minister Khongor Elbikov told reporters.
Yulia Rybina, Makhachkala; Badma Byurchiev, Elista; Grigory Tumanov
Dagestan athlete in Elista transferred to a separate cell
Member of the Dagestan Greco-Roman wrestling team Said Osmanov, detained on suspicion of desecrating the Buddha statue in Elista, was transferred to a separate cell. The detainee is being demanded to confess, his relatives claim.
Athletes from Dagestan, walking around Elista on April 1, went into a Buddhist temple, where one of them relieved himself and also kicked a Buddha statue, Dozhd reports, noting that perhaps no one would have known about the incident if The athletes themselves did not broadcast their actions to the Periscope application. The footage posted on the Internet was seen by residents of Elista and came to the hotel where the team was staying to deal with the wrestlers. The fight was miraculously avoided, but the Dagestani had to beg the angry Buddhists on his knees for forgiveness, the TV channel reports. It is noteworthy that videos about the events that followed the incident in the temple were posted online, including on YouTube. They only broadcast photos of a guy doing a stretch with his foot towards the Buddha’s nose.
Said Osmanov applied for a separate cell in the pre-trial detention center, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Kalmykia said Evgeniy Emelianenko . According to him, the petition was granted, and the conditions of detention of the detainee met all necessary standards, writes RIA Kalmykia.
The athlete’s lawyer also reported that Said Osmanov is being held in a separate cell, Chernovik reports.
Relatives: there is no evidence of Said Osmanov’s guilt
The investigative authorities are demanding that Said Osmanov write a confession, since they have no other evidence of guilt, the detainee’s uncle told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent Abdulkadyr Osmanov . According to him, pressure is currently being put on his nephew to admit to desecrating the monument. “They have no evidence. There is no video, no photographic evidence. And now they are trying to force a confession out of him under physical pressure,” he said.
Abdulkadyr Osmanov noted that he was also asked to persuade his nephew when he went to Elista to see Said. According to him, the police never gave permission for the meeting. They hired a Dagestan lawyer, who only left for Kalmykia on April 7.
According to Osmanov’s relatives, they met a young man who was with Said at the Buddha statue that evening. Unfortunately, this young man himself is not accessible to the media, since the intelligence services forbade him to communicate with journalists. But relatives took a video from behind, where the athlete talks about what happened that evening on April 1. "There were three of us. We were walking through the park and saw a sculpture. We were broadcasting on Periscope. We didn’t know what kind of monument it was. Said and I approached it, I started shining my phone at it. Said said one thing, just one swear word a word to her, but I interrupted him. I explained to him that local residents might see us, and then there might be problems. And we returned to the hotel,” says the video provided by Osmanov’s relatives.
As for the photo circulated on the Internet, where a young man raises his leg to the level of the face of a Buddha statue, this is a fake, the elder brother of the detainee told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent Hamid Osmanov . "This is most likely an old photo. And it clearly shows that this is not Said. Said has curly hair. Shortly before the trip, he cut his hair short. And in the photo there is a man with long straight hair. And in the photo it is clear that he has young The guy has stubble, and Said has sparse facial hair,” said Hamid Osmanov.
On April 6, Abdulkadyr Osmanov sent an appeal to the President of Russia, the head of Dagestan and the Prime Minister of Dagestan with a request to monitor the progress of the criminal case so that it was conducted objectively and fairly, without giving the event political and religious overtones.
Let us recall that earlier, who noted that he was not at the scene of the incident.
According to eyewitnesses, the monument was desecrated
The incident occurred late in the evening on April 1, a Kalmyk journalist told the Caucasian Knot correspondent Badma Byurchiev who witnessed the events. According to him, Dagestani athletes were walking in the center of Elista not far from the government building of Kalmykia when they saw the statue of Buddha Shakyamuni, which is located in the park on the veranda. One of the athletes, calling the statue obscene names, approached it and relieved himself, says Byurchiev.
“The Dagestanis behaved extremely defiantly, say witnesses of the athletes’ walk. One of them pointed to Buddha and loudly asked what kind of “p...”, that is, a man of non-traditional sexual orientation. Passers-by made comments, but the athletes did not care,” said Byurchiev.
The incident was filmed on a phone camera and broadcast on the Periscope application, but no recording of the incident was saved. Byurchiev claims that the service is designed in such a way that after the broadcast is completed, the video is not saved, and recording requires other tools that the Dagestan athletes did not use. “There are no recordings of the actions of the Dagestanis, neither on Youtube nor anywhere else,” Byurchiev said.
He noted that the photograph circulated in the media, where a certain man stretches his legs and hits Buddha’s head with his foot, was taken long before the incident and not even in Elista. “Unfortunately, even respected publications disseminated incorrect information. Subsequently, this led to a huge resonance among Elista residents,” the journalist said.
The broadcast of the Dagestanis’ walk on Periscope was watched by many residents of Elista, and “it was not difficult for them to quickly write off on social networks and agree on revenge on the Dagestanis,” Byurchiev said. The Elista residents chose the place and time of the gathering, and about 100 people arrived there in cars, some of whom were armed with bats, sticks and reinforcement bars. By 11 p.m., the crowd headed to the Elista Hotel, the largest hotel in the city, where, according to Byurchiev, all the athletes stay.
"The crowd was determined, people demanded that the offender be handed over to them. Several police squads arrived at the hotel, and only this stopped the crowd from lynching. For a long time no one came out, but suddenly a man appeared at the door of the hotel - the same athlete who swore and said need on the statue. The man shouted: “Sorry,” but this was clearly not enough for the crowd - everyone wanted physical violence. Then the athlete followed the lead of the crowd, which demanded to kneel. This was enough for everyone to disperse after a few minutes," commented Byurchiev .
At a certain moment it became scary, she told the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" hotel employee "Elista", who asked not to use her name. “It was spontaneous, uncontrolled and unconscious. It was as if lower instincts had awakened in people. At some point we thought that the police would not be able to resist the crowd, and people would burst into the hotel. Every Elista resident supported the crowd, not a single one was left indifferent,” - said a hotel employee.
Badmaev: the actions of the Dagestanis also offended the national feelings of the Kalmyks
The Dagestanis shouted insults at the Kalmyks, promising to “bring them to their knees,” the editor-in-chief of “Modern Kalmykia” told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent. Valery Badmaev. “Thus, the Dagestanis insulted not even Buddhists, but Kalmyks. All segments of the population are outraged - right down to Russian pensioners, who, it would seem, were not affected by the incident,” Badmaev noted.
The incident caused a serious public outcry among the entire population of Elista. Seeing the desecration of the statue, townspeople called their friends and were outraged; they, in turn, reported the incident to their neighbors, and they passed the information on to relatives, Badmaev said. He said that local Dagestanis complain to him that by kneeling, the athlete “humiliated the entire Dagestani people.”
Culturologist: Said Osmanov showed disrespect for himself
Head of the center for the development of modern Oirat culture "Tengrin Uidl" Basan Zakharov believes that the athlete could have reacted differently and not succumbed to the mood of the crowd. "In this regard, the Dagestan and Kalmyk cultures are similar - if a man kneels, this is disrespect for himself. I don’t know what the motivation was. This characterizes the man as an extremely unstable person. In this regard, I understand the Dagestanis. There are two offenses here - and before the Kalmyks , and in front of the Dagestanis,” Zakharov told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent. Now the population of Kalmykia has “calmed down,” says Zakharov. “After the apology of the Prime Minister of Dagestan and the Muftiate, interethnic conflicts were avoided,” the cultural expert said.
Political scientist: Kalmyks have shown the ability to quickly self-organize
The speed with which the Elistinians managed to cooperate is a consequence of the fact that the Kalmyk capital is “a small city, about 100 thousand people,” where “any news spreads quickly, especially bad news,” the chairman of the expert council of the Research Foundation told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent electoral politics Andrey Serenko. Also, “Kalmyks are capable of quickly organizing when it comes to protecting religious shrines,” the political scientist believes.
“What was happening was broadcast via the Internet, and there were many advanced users in Elista. The incident itself took place in the center of the city, next to the republican administration building, where there are always people. Witnesses personally observed the young brat’s prank and helped this news spread. Kalmyks are not an aggressive people, but with self-esteem, and are able to stand up for it,” Serenko said.
On April 1, groups of athletes left Chechen, Ingushetia, Dagestan and other republics of the northern Caucasus for freestyle wrestling competitions in the Republic of Kalmykia. One of the athletes of the Dagestan team, while walking around Elista, desecrated a Buddhist datsan. He put his feet there, spat, and eventually relieved himself there. All this was filmed on a phone and broadcast on the famous social network Periscope. At this time, the video has been removed from public use. The indignant local residents who learned about this surrounded the hotel and demanded that the defiler be handed over. While he was not extradited, several new cars with Dagestan license plates traveling through Kalmykia were burned. A double-decker bus was smashed with stones.
On the night of April 1-2, 2016, the Elista duty station received a message that a massive domestic conflict had occurred between groups of young people in the city center. On the spot, police established that the conflict involved athletes from the Republic of Dagestan, who came to the republican freestyle wrestling competition. Currently, the instigator of the conflict has been detained and taken to the police station for further investigation. Other Dagestani and Chechen athletes in five teams, accompanied by police officers, left the region. Judging by discussions on the Internet, athletes spoke unflatteringly about architectural monuments with religious significance. The Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the Republic of Dagestan, Magomed Magomedov, and the Prime Minister of Dagestan, Abdusamad Gamidov, have already left for Kalmykia to investigate what happened. “Residents of Elista, who saw the video, came to the hotel where the athlete was staying, dragged him out into the street, forced him to his knees and forced him to publicly apologize. The athlete uttered words of apology, but immediately made an indecent gesture. The further development of the conflict was stopped by the police who arrived at the scene,” the heads of the republics also called.
The young man who became the instigator of the conflict faces an article for insulting religious feelings.
The Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Dagestan, Abdusamad Gamidov, in the presence of the Head of the Republic of Kalmykia, Alexei Orlov, and media representatives, apologized to the people of Kalmykia for the act of vandalism committed by the Dagestan athlete the day before. “Our peoples have always lived as good neighbors. Thousands of Dagestanis live peacefully next to the Kalmyk people. They live together, work, respecting the religious and spiritual values of our fraternal people. That's why we wanted to make a deep apology. The actions of some young people disgrace our republic as a whole. Let us assure you that this fact will not go unpunished. As of today, the coach of the national team, who brought our guys to the freestyle wrestling competition in Elista, has already been fired. This is another reason for us to pay attention to the education of the younger generation so that such incidents do not arise in the future.”
A major scandal erupted in Elista related to the hooliganism of a 22-year-old member of the Dagestan freestyle wrestling team, Said Osmanov. Together with the team, he arrived in the main city of Kalmykia to participate in the competition. On the night of April 3, he went to get acquainted with the city and, in the process,
desecrated the Buddha statue: first he relieved himself on it, and then spectacularly punched the metal deity in the nose with Yoko Geri (a direct kick in karate. - Gazeta.Ru)..
This act of the young athlete did not go unnoticed. Soon after the desecration of the Buddhist shrine, several dozen Elista residents came to the hotel where the Dagestan team was staying to ask why Osmanov chose the image of Buddha as a toilet and a punching bag. The arriving city residents filmed their conversation with the wrestler on their mobile phones, and then posted it on the Internet. The conversation with the hooligan took place in the presence of police officers, who behaved neutrally and did not disturb those gathered.
“I didn’t know that this was a monument, I didn’t know that...” the athlete tried to say something in his own defense. “How did you not know?!” — the crowd of gathered Elistinians explodes with an indignant cry. Soon their speech became unprintable, and they sharply demanded that Said apologize for disrespecting the deity and kneel so that the public would believe in the sincerity of his repentance. After thinking a little, Osmanov fulfilled the wishes of those gathered. However
this did not protect the athlete from other unpleasant consequences. A criminal case was opened against him under the article “Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion,”
according to which a young person may face a real prison term. In the meantime, he was arrested by decision of the Elista court and is in Kalmyk.
Gazeta.Ru discussed the current situation with representatives of the Buddhist community of Kalmykia and other regions of Russia. “Buddha would undoubtedly forgive him for this, because according to our religion, if you do not accept evil, then it does not concern you and the person will leave it with him,” says Bator Mandzhiev, a resident of Elista. - But from the point of view of the geopolitical region, guests need to be put in their place, otherwise they will also behave inappropriately,
after all, they only understand strength. If it weren't for the police, the crowd might have killed this guy.
In Kalmykia, the steppes are wide, no one will find it.”
According to him, interethnic conflicts occur periodically in the city, but they are quite rare.
“Two years ago there was a case, people from Dagestan came to us, took all sorts of liberties, insulted people, but did not touch religion. As a result, the Elistinians beat them a little. But in general, in Kalmykia they treat representatives of any religion, including Muslims, normally. You just need to behave normally, there’s no need to be impudent,” Mandzhiev said.
A similar point of view was expressed by young Elista housewife Tatyana Batyrova, who also professes Buddhism.
“From the point of view of Buddhism, there is no need to hold a grudge and one must forgive Osmanov. But he insulted our people and desecrated a holy place.
This is a disrespectful act, he believes that only his God is worthy of respect,” the woman noted.
“What do you think, if Buddhists came to the mosque and committed sacrilege, what would Muslims do to them? This is what happened here too. If it weren't for the police officers, something not very good could have been done to this person. I personally don’t hold a grudge against this man, but I believe that the court should put an end to this story,” says Kyuske Ochirov, a native of the Republic of Tyva.
The rector of the St. Petersburg Buddhist temple, Buda Badmaev, noted that it is necessary to separate the Buddhist teachings in themselves and the reaction to it of certain individual followers of Buddhism.
“In Buddhism, a person himself realizes what he has done and how he should decide on his behavior. Buddhism is a very compassionate religion in this regard. We understand that this person committed, to put it mildly, a stupid act. Naturally, the reaction of all Buddhists will be unambiguous.
It is the believer who punishes, not religion - that is what philosophy is all about. If people revere something, then they shouldn’t desecrate it,” said the religious figure.
According to him, although Buddhism is a religion of love, individual people are in principle imperfect, including the followers of Buddhism, and therefore the crowd gathered in front of the hotel behaved quite aggressively.
“Everyone understands holiness in their own way. In principle, there must be mutual respect, and if a person violates the laws of society, then we must make sure that he begins to understand that this should not be done. It is advisable that he understands this himself and apologizes - this is the task of Buddhism.
This guy basically punished himself."
- Badmaev noted.
Friends of Said Osmanov on his social page “VKontakte” in a conversation with “Gazeta.Ru” dissociated themselves from him and stated that they did not know him at all. They also stated that they did not approve of his action. Meanwhile, after the incident, the chairman of the government of Dagestan personally arrived in Elista and apologized for Osmanov’s behavior.
“We consider the act of our fellow countryman immoral. On my own behalf, I deeply apologize to our fraternal Kalmyk people. I would like to note that the coach who brought the wrestlers to the competition has already been fired,” the official said. His father also spoke sharply negatively about the athlete’s behavior.
Meanwhile, the Buddha statue in Elista, which was desecrated by an athlete from Dagestan, will undergo a cleansing ceremony. This was stated by the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Kalmykia Khongor Elbikov.
“On Tuesday in Elista, near the Buddha statue, a cleanup day will be held, in which members of Buddhist centers will take part. The monks of the central khurul will perform a ritual of cleansing and washing the statue,” Elbikov said.
The first meeting on the high-profile case took place on July 4. The court questioned a number of witnesses, most of whom claimed that they did not see the actual process of Osmanov’s desecration of the Buddha statue. In his last plea, the defendant did not admit his guilt and claimed that he “did not know about the religious sanctity of the statue.” During the debate, the state prosecutor asked that he be sentenced to three and a half years in prison. In turn, the lawyers insisted on the client’s innocence and petitioned for his release from custody on bail of 150 thousand rubles.
By the verdict of the Elista City Court, Osmanov was found guilty of committing crimes under Articles 148 and 282 of the Criminal Code of Russia. Under the article “Violation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion,” he was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of one year without restriction of freedom. Under the article “Inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity” - one year and six months. By partial addition of the sentences, two years without restriction of freedom were finally imposed. In accordance with Article 73 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the imposed sentence is considered suspended with a probationary period of one year, - official representative of the city court Delyas Yesenova told RG.
The verdict did not enter into legal force, since the law provides for a ten-day period for appealing it.
Let us remind you that on the night of April 1-2, a Dagestan athlete who came to Elista for the All-Russian Greco-Roman wrestling tournament named after Oka Gorodovikov, after dinner, together with other athletes, went to a Buddhist temple. There he imitated forceful techniques against a statue of a saint. He shared his action on Periscope.
Hundreds of angry residents of Elista, who saw this video, arrived at the hotel where he was staying. They found the wrestler, took him outside and forced him to apologize. Police intervened and saved the man from the angry crowd. The head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov and the chairman of the government Abdusamad Gamidov apologized to the people of Kalmykia. In addition, the republic's Minister of Sports Magomed Magomedov was reprimanded for the incident in Elista, and the coach of the wrestling team was fired.
A person who desecrates a shrine deserves compassion and prayerful help, because he does not know that by his actions he is causing harm to himself, his loved ones, his people,” said the head of the Buddhists of Kalmykia, Shajin Lama Telo Tulku Rinpoche, regarding the incident.
Members of the monastic community of the Central Khurul of Kalmykia "Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni" performed a ritual of cleansing the statue. About a thousand people took part in it. Residents and monks cleaned up the area adjacent to the temple, painted the base of the rotunda, and covered the statue itself with new paint and gold leaf.
