Russia’s Supreme Court has stopped the ban on the activities of the radical Islamist movement Taliban, which has seized power in Afghanistan. This was reported by Russian news agencies.
The court decision is subject to immediate execution. It means that the Russian authorities will no longer consider the Taliban a terrorist organisation.
The court satisfied the statement of claim of the Prosecutor General. It became known at the end of March.
Despite the formal ban on the Taliban’s activities in Russia, the Russian authorities and before the court ruling maintained relations with the Taliban government in Afghanistan, its representatives made visits to Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the movement Moscow’s ally in the fight against terrorism.
In December 2024, the Russian State Duma passed a bill that created a mechanism to remove organisations from the list of terrorist organisations.
“The Taliban was enlisted as a terrorist organisation in 2003. The ruling stated that the Taliban were linked to illegal armed groups in Chechnya and Central Asian states and maintained close relations with the terrorist group Islamic State. Russia at that time provided support to the United States and its allies (we are talking, in particular, about NATO’s use of the airbase in Ulyanovsk), which were conducting operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In 2021 The Taliban, 20 years after their ouster from power, regained control of Afghanistan, overthrowing the US-loyal government of President Ashraf Ghani. The Taliban in Afghanistan have imposed Sharia law and public executions are practised. Massive human rights violations have been reported, especially against women, who have been banned by the Taliban government from receiving education other than junior high school, from appearing in public places unaccompanied by male relatives, and from speaking aloud in public. Sharp restrictions on women’s rights to work. Political and civic activism that does not coincide with Taliban policies is persecuted.
The Taliban government is not recognised internationally, but in fact most of the world does business with it to some degree.