Europe

Russia: “What they say is nothing but a lie”

In recent weeks residents of Russia have not only witnessed but rather have become victims of an anti-Islamic propaganda campaign that was carried out in the media at the security forces’ request. Intelligence venom against Islam and Muslims showered from most of the central TV channels (Channel One, the program “Sunday Time” of 26.05.2013; Russian TV channel, “News of the Week” of 19.05.2013, TVC, “In the middle of the action” of 19.05.2013) they were echoed by the well-known persons of different levels, government officials and even the military, the obligation of whom is the defense of the country not internal politics. As an example, on 22 May 2013 according to the Interfax News Agency, Army General Anatoliy Kulikov said at SPC “Islamism and National Security of Russia” the following: “Today all of the threats most realistic for Russia is a radical political Islam, or Islamism, which announced jihad in our country.” This action was aimed at convincing the people of Russia of the danger of Islam and its followers.

كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةً تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ ۚ إِنْ يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًا

“It is a monstrous utterance which has issued from their mouths. What they say is nothing but a lie.”

(Al-Kahf, 18:5)

In recent weeks residents of Russia have not only witnessed but rather have become victims of an anti-Islamic propaganda campaign that was carried out in the media at the security forces’ request. Intelligence venom against Islam and Muslims showered from most of the central TV channels (Channel One, the program “Sunday Time” of 26.05.2013; Russian TV channel, “News of the Week” of 19.05.2013, TVC, “In the middle of the action” of 19.05.2013) they were echoed by the well-known persons of different levels, government officials and even the military, the obligation of whom is the defense of the country not internal politics. As an example, on 22 May 2013 according to the Interfax News Agency, Army General Anatoliy Kulikov said at SPC “Islamism and National Security of Russia” the following: “Today all of the threats most realistic for Russia is a radical political Islam, or Islamism, which announced jihad in our country.” This action was aimed at convincing the people of Russia of the danger of Islam and its followers.

The focus of the provoking information attack was made to discredit Hizb ut Tahrir. There appeared dozens of false publications in the last few days. The purpose of these publications is to convince the Russian society that Hizb ut Tahrir is a terrorist organization whose members are engaged in acts of terrorism.

Here are just a few of them to show the deceitful propaganda against Hizb ut Tahrir.

• 17 May 2013: Regnum News Agency reported citing the Interior Ministry in the Sakhalin region: “The staff of the FSB Russia, Sakhalin Region and the Interior Ministry in the Sakhalin region detained person, who was probably one of the leaders of the extremist organization of Sakhalin cell of Hizb ut Tahrir. Security officials said the detainee had a Makarov pistol and 16 ammunitions and two grenades “F-1”.

There is still no information about the detainee in Sakhalin, but even if we assume that he has anything to do with Hizb ut Tahrir, so the party is not engaged in forcible actions so that its members had ammunitions and weapons, and it’s clear!

• 29 May 2013: Interfax News Agency reported, citing a senior assistant regional SU TFR, about the completion of the investigation against five residents of Tatarstan, who according to investigators planned to commit a terrorist act. However, describing the details of the criminal case, a senior police officer stated that the accused leader of Muslims is at the same time a supporter of the party Hizb ut Tahrir and the organization At-Takfir Wal-Hijra. Although for anyone who is even slightly acquainted with Islamic movements is obvious that one can not simultaneously be a member of these two different organizations, for the Hizb does not accept force actions as a method.

• 28 May 2013: ITAR-TASS quoting the Chief Directorate Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Volga District reported about the arrest of three members of the party Hizb ut Tahrir who were about to commit a terrorist act. It should be recalled that on 29 November 2012, the Russian media reported about the arrest of three members of Hizb, who allegedly prepared the attack. And in fact the security forces then planted several conventional ammunitions to the ordinary migrant workers who had nothing to Hizb and then announced them to be party members.

So security officials confused the media with their lies, even the major news agencies differed in the description of events. For example, ITAR-TASS reported a new arrest, mentioning that “the defendants were followed from last November”. In turn the Interfax News Agency reported only about the success of the investigation: “The investigation department of the MOI in the Volga Federal District in the investigation of the criminal case against members of the Nizhny Novgorod cell of Hizb ut Tahrir found evidence of premeditation to commit acts of terrorism” adding that “it was reported previously about the arrest of the leader and three active participants of Hizb ut Tahrir in November 2012”. The Russian newspaper reported another version of events, citing the words of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia on the Volga Federal District Vasiliy Kucheraka: “Today’s arrest of the three members of the terrorist organization took place during the first quarter of this year and we reported about it only just now because of investigational reasons”. On 31 May 2013: Channel Five aired a TV report about the detention of the members of Hizb ut Tahrir not only in Nizhny Novgorod, but also in Kazan and now as an aim of a terrorist attack was not only named the Nizhny Novgorod region, but the Volga region as a whole.

And it is just a small part of what has been published by the media in recent years to discredit the party of Hizb ut Tahrir. All messages are reduced to one: “Party members of Hizb ut Tahrir are organizing terrorist acts in Russia and recruiting people for this”.

Special Services misinform the people through the media and form the so-called “right” public opinion, that they are not accused of excessive brutality against members of Hizb ut Tahrir. After all everybody knows that Hizb ut Tahrir do not use force methods and use political activities and adheres to political method in achieving its goals and on the territory of Russia it just educates Muslims.

On 28 May 2013: profile commission under the Government of the Russian Federation approved a bill aimed at “creating the legal conditions to neutralize the destructive activities of religious organizations in the country.” That is, all these lies and campaign to discredit Hizb ut Tahrir in the best traditions of the Soviet era is the creation of an enabling environment for the adoption of the bill for increasing the punishment for extremist articles that security officials have lobbied for a long time. The bill provides much more sanctions on a number of articles, including Art. 282.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation – on which criminal cases against members of Hizb were most often fabricated.

But Russian security forces’ lie in the address of Hizb ut Tahrir can not change the conception of the party in the world, because Hizb ut Tahrir is an international party with a unified ideology, one method and one goal. Therefore, all attempts to slander Hizb ut Tahrir, accusing it of using force actions will become apparent and untenable before the sixty-year history of the Party’s work around the world. So, the whole world will witness who is lying and who is telling the truth. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ ۚ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّهُ ۖ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ

“When those who are kafir were plotting against you to imprison you or kill you or expel you: they were plotting and Allah was plotting, but Allah is the Best of Plotters.”

(Al-Anfaal, 8:30)

The Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Russia

Wednesday, 30 Rajab 1434 AH

09-06-2013 CE

REF: 1434 AH/08