The Russian Justice Ministry has objected to the idea of outlawing the radical Islamic movement known as Wahhabism and punishing its followers. \"Persecuting people for religious beliefs means violating the constitution and other laws. People must be punished for specific actions and violations of the law,\" chief of the Justice Ministry\'s department for non-government and religious organizations Alexander Kudryavtsev told Interfax. The Justice Ministry earlier objected to an initiative from the Dagestani State Council to outlaw Wahhabism. \"The Justice Ministry considered this proposal not to be in compliance with international law and Russian legislation,\" Kudryavtsev said. The Justice Ministry official added that people who have committed crimes and identified themselves as followers of Wahhabism were prosecuted not for their religious beliefs but for specific deeds and offences, particularly for membership in illegal armed units. \"It you take residents of the Dagestani villages of Karamakhi and Chabanmakhi as an example, they were punished not for being Wahhabites but for violating Russian laws by setting up illegal armed units,\" Kudryavtsev said, referring to events in August 1999, when guerilla units attacked Dagestan from Chechnya. (Interfax)