Following the events on April 19th 2011, further commented in the media, the Cultural Center Islamul Azi and the Islamic and Cultural League in Romania, aiming a correct information of the public, consider necessary to make public this announcement in order to present the official position of those involved, because the image of Islam, of the foundations and, last but not least, of the Muslim community in Romania was negatively affected by launching these serious and groundless charges.

All these searches, together with the articles in the media – the titles being way beyond the real facts: Terrorism suspicions on Romanian territory, Possible terrorist attacks in Romania, cut off by SRI (Romanian Information Service) and DIICOT (Direction for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism) – are seriously damaging the image of the Cultural Center Islamul Azi and the Islamic and Cultural League in Romania.

The events on April 19th 2011, regarding the DIICOT searches at the Cultural Center Islamul Azi, the Islamic and Cultural League and at the private homes of those involved in the activities of the foundations generated situations we can call at least unpleasant. Fundamental rights were violated; actions of humiliating people and put a negative shade on their public image were done.

At the time of the searches, no one was informed about the reason of this action. We declare that surely all the activities of the Cultural Center Islamul Azi and the Islamic and Cultural League in Romania are transparent and public. Anyone, no matter the religion, has always been welcomed and encouraged to participate in the programs and activities organized by the foundations. Our aim is to offer Islamic spiritual education to the Muslims in Romania and to de-activate and break the myths of preconceptions and groundless accusations spread in the past decades through mass-media about the Islamic religion and Muslims. At the level of rigorous social-political analysis, it has been already underlined that it is not correct , nor honest from a political, intellectual and human point of view to put the equal sign between Muslims and terrorists.

We always condemned any terrorist act done by people who claim to belong to the Islamic or any other religion. We have always explained that there is no doctrinaire Islamic foundation for terrorism acts, that terrorist acts are beyond doubt forbidden in Islam. We have condemned not only the real acts of terrorism, but also the attempt to justify them based on the Islamic doctrine.

Unfortunately, some media releases, through the conexions made and tendentiously mingleling the information, already canceled the presumtion of innocence and expressed a public judgement about the ones involved. Using words well known for their negative impact, like „islamist” organisations, and not Islamic, or organizing a visual part of the news with images of terror – Madrid 2004, London 2005, Stockholm – put a blame on the foundations before the end of the investigation, placing them with no reason in the sphere of terrorism.

We mention that no one from the Cultural Center Islamul AZI or the Islamic and Cultural League was restrained.

The places where the searches were made included the private homes of some of the members of the foundations, places where Islamic lectures were never organized and where the whole family of the investigated member was living. In some of these searches, the DIICOT representatives brutalized and vainly scared the wives and children present. One lady and her child were sleeping and they got up with a gun at their heads.

We have never financed any suspicious activity. We have constantly participated in helping those affected by the floods in Romania and in other charitable activities in support of the Romanian citizens, no matter their religion. One of the major objectives of our foundations is offering help and social assistance to those in difficult conditions. We have always offered both material and spiritual support to those in need.

Our role in the Muslim community in Romania, and in the Romanian society in general, was always that of fighting the radical actions; we always presented the authentic Islam, which follows the Quranic and Prophetic teachings, aims peace and cooperation between religions and people. Firmly and with no ambiguity, we have always advised towards peaceful reaction during crisis situations (see the Danish drawings in the Romanian newspapers).

At the time of the kidnapping of the Romanian journalists in Irak, Mr Abu Al Ola Al-Ghaithi, President of the Cultural Center Islamul Azi, and Mr Fariq Allaqta, at that time President of the Islamic and Cultural League, risked their own lives in taking the role of delegates of the Romanian State in negotiations with the kidnappers, and the Romanian State expressed its trust in their good intentions and mediation capacity.

This search promoted a twisted image of well-known Muslims, appreciated in the community because of their strong Islamic education and their moral probity. The way in which this denigration of those that the Muslim community knows as local models was done is frightening and intimidating for all Romanian Muslims.

We are aware that there are tendencies towards radicalization of some of the Muslims – their number being insignificant compared with the whole Muslim world – found in conflict areas and, on the other side, that we are witnessing a wave of islamophobia, but we hope that the Romanian judicial system will prove fairness and honesty in investigating this case.

We deplore the brutal and humiliating actions of the security representatives and we want to draw attention to the consequences of these acts in the denigration and spoiling the image of those involved and of Muslims in general.