A court decision on a book about Islam is sparking protests in Russia.
A judge in the Far Eastern city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Natalya Perchenko, banned the Russian-language book in August, saying it included verses of the Koran that are "extremist."
A co-chairman of the Russian Council of Muftis, Nafigulla Ashirov, said on September 10 that the council will appeal the ruling, saying it "damages Russia's image."
The statement comes a day after the leader of Russia's mainly Muslim region of Chechnya, Ramazan Kadyrov, harshly criticized the court's decision, calling it a "provocation that might cause mass protests across Russia and beyond."
The chairman of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk City Court, Aleksandr Chukhrai, said on September 10 that the court's decision "might have been a mistake."
In 2013, a Russian court decision to ban a translation of the Koran was overturned following protests by Muslim clerics.
