ASSOCIATED PRESS: MOSCOW — Two activists accused Russia's government on Friday of encouraging prosecutors to target Muslims on trumped up charges of terrorism and extremism, and said the abuse could lead to anti-government unrest.
Sergei Komkov, president of the non-governmental All-Russian Education Fund, asserted the Kremlin was trying to pin social ills on innocent Muslims and warned it could backfire against President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"There threatens to be a powerful explosion of public discontent in the next three or four years that could, if not stopped, lead to a change in the political leadership," Komkov told a news conference attended by prominent rights activists.
Komkov said authorities in Russia's southern regions are increasingly convicting observant Muslims on trumped up charges of terrorism and extremism, in an effort to satisfy what he claimed were quotas from the central government. >>> By David Nowak | Friday, March 13, 2009
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