An imam in the Dagestani village of Kostek was placed on a “preventive register”. The Ministry of Internal Affairs for Dagestan placed Makhach on the register in April 2015 on the basis of Order No. 737. The order was marked “for official use” and therefore was never published.

People were placed on the register for going to the “wrong” mosque, wearing a beard trimmed according to Muslim customs, or seeking help with difficult life situations not in state courts but from muftis.

We went to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation three times. The first time we lost. The Supreme Court overturned the decision removing Makhach from the register, finding that the procedural rights of the respondent (the Ministry of Internal Affairs) had been violated, and remitted the case for a new hearing.

At that stage, it was tempting to give up — like the frog in a jar of milk. But if you stop before the end, the result won’t change. So we continued.

The first-instance court dismissed the claim again, holding that the time limit for challenging the decision had expired. This time, the Supreme Court supported us and overturned the dismissal. On the third attempt, the Dagestan courts removed Makhach from the register, but the Ministry of Internal Affairs appealed to the Supreme Court once again.

Fortunately, the Supreme Court did not have to consider the case for a third time: on the day of the hearing, it terminated the proceedings because the Ministry of Internal Affairs withdrew its appeal.