Biography
After a raid on the homes of believers in Dagestan on June 1, 2019, law enforcement officers detained four civilians — one woman and three men. Three days later, the Sovetsky District Court of Makhachkala sent all four to a pre-trial detention center. Among them is Arsen Abdullayev, who was charged with organizing extremist activities only because of his religion. What do we know about this man?
Arsen was born in 1979 in the village of Kasumkent (Dagestan) in a family of doctors. His father was an anesthesiologist, his mother worked as deputy chief physician. The father is no longer alive, as well as one of Arsen's two brothers. As a child, he was fond of volleyball and loved to read.
After graduating from school, Arsen graduated with a degree in winemaking. He also started, but did not finish, his studies as an economist. To provide for his family, he worked in a variety of places, including a laborer. Recently, he has been engaged in the maintenance of heating and plumbing systems. In his free time he likes to play football and volleyball, fish, and learns English. On his own, he mastered playing the guitar by self-instruction.
Arsen's mother is a deeply religious Muslim woman who twice made the Hajj to Mecca. However, Arsen himself in 2000 made a conscious choice in favor of the religion of Jehovah's Witnesses. He was struck by the moral and spiritual purity, brotherly love and strong family ties among people who live according to the commandments of the Bible. Both of Arsen's parents initially resisted his religious choice, but later softened their attitude, seeing changes for the better in it.
Also in 2000, Arsen married Suat, an artist-teacher by profession. She taught arts and crafts at school, now devotes most of her time to her family and raising her son Mirza, who was born a year after the wedding. Until 2014, Arsen and his family lived in Makhachkala, then moved to nearby Kaspiysk. The whole family is happy to go out with friends to nature, Mirza and her dad love to fish, and Suat plays the piano well.
Arsen's mother and brother, as well as Suat's parents and brother and sister, are extremely upset and outraged by the criminal prosecution of Arsen for his faith. "The whole family knows Arsen as peaceful, kind, sympathetic, always ready to help with advice and deeds," says his wife. - Everyone understands that the criminal case against him is fabricated. Everyone is very worried, constantly interested in Arsen's well-being. Relatives do not lose hope that justice will be served."