The authorities in Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg Wednesday banned the slaughter of sheep in its historic centre after a sacrifice last year for a Muslim holiday shocked locals.
‘Saint Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko proclaimed illegal the sacrifice of animals for the festival of Kurban Bayram”, a statement from the municipality said.
The governor acknowledged the right of Muslims - who have a one million strong population in Saint Petersburg and its region - to sacrifice animals for the festival.
But she said public places in the historic centre could not be used for the practice.
Half-a dozen-sheep were sacrificed on November 27 at the 18th-century Apraksin Dvor shopping arcade in the historic centre which is right next to Saint Petersburg’s famed main avenue Nevsky Prospekt.
The sacrifice marked the end of the festival known in Turkic languages as Kurban Bayram and Eid al-Adha in Arabic. Many migrant Muslim workers from former Soviet republics work at stalls in the arcade.
The annual festival marks the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son to God.
Over 20 million Muslims live in Russia while Saint Petersburg has one of the biggest mosques in Europe which can accommodate almost 5,000 people at any one time.