Dushanbe, Tajikistan - A leader of the Islamic Salafi movement and about 40 of his followers were taken into custody in a mosque in the Tajik capital Dushanbe yesterday during evening services, ASIA-Plus information agency reports. The joint operation was carried out by Tajik police and agents of the national security service.
The detainees were taken to security service headquarters. They are being held on suspicious of converting people to their sect, which has been banned in Tajikistan since the beginning of this year. Literature associated with the sect is also banned. Tajik Interior Ministry sources said that charges could be filed against the men under a law forbidding the incitement of religious enmity.
Salafi is a Sunni fundamentalist movement resembling Wahhabism. It arose in the mid-19th century and first appeared in Tajikistan in 2005. It has about 20,000 followers in the country, most of whom are under the age of 35 years.