Police found 27 children and 38 adults living in catacomb-like cells, dug on eight levels under his home.... Some children had literally never seen the light of day, Russian media report....Traditional Muslims regard Muhammad as the last prophet, so these "Faizrakhmanists" are on their own.
According to the Russian website Islam News, [Faizrakhman] Sattarov, 83, declared himself an Islamic prophet in the mid-1960s after interpreting sparks from a trolleybus cable as a divine light from God....
We were just talking about the Russian Penal code in connection with the Pussy Riot case (in which the charge is "hooliganism"). In this case, the charge, under Article 330 of the code is "arbitrariness." That is the "unauthorised commission of actions contrary to the order presented by a law or any other normative legal act."
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In Russia, is always a controlling legal authority!
declared himself an Islamic prophet in the mid-1960s after interpreting sparks from a trolleybus cable as a divine light from God
Under the Soviets? Did he start building his underground complex then too? Cor but those communists were incompetent. What if he'd been some kind of revolutionary, stockpiling bombs down there, or breeding a (pale, malnourished) army?
Too bad for the Russian authorities didn't tell him "you didn't build these catacombs".
Reason No. 147 not to install trolleycars in Milwaukee -- the sparks could give freaky religious types crazy ideas and lead to the catacombing of children.
The wording of this Arbitrariness crime ("the unauthorised commission of actions contrary to the order presented by a law or any other normative legal act") seems dangerously abstract.
"The wording of this Arbitrariness crime ("the unauthorised commission of actions contrary to the order presented by a law or any other normative legal act") seems dangerously abstract."
I know. It seems like the crime is the crime of violating the law, so that we have to look elsewhere for that law.
"Arbitrariness" sounds to me like an offense that can only be done by government, which has an obligation to treat people equally and to follow due process and so forth. How is a crime for a person to be arbitrary? Isn't that the essence of freedom? I can say or do one thing and then another without making much sense, and it's none of the government's business unless I'm violating some law, which does seem to be an element of that Russian crime.
Anyway, I haven't researched it, and the behavior in question would obviously be a crime under U.S. law (I would hope).
Yes, you would think the crime in the US would be kidnapping or false imprisonment. But I bet that all of these followers will swear that they were always free to leave and there was no coersion, that they were not held against their will. That is the way cults do it.
The Russians' problem is they don't have the equivalent of Janet Reno, so they have to find something to charge the prophet with. I think the crime of arbitrariness is perfect for Russia. You couldn't make up a better crime for a thug state.
People can be sent to jail for hooliganism and arbitrariness? Gosh, the more I learn about the Russian penal code, the more I like it.
Reminiscent of the good old days under Uncle Joe when imams were executed for rape because they performed ritual circumcision.
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