MOSCOW, June 14 - RAPSI, Lyubov Shirizhik. The Moscow Bar Association's qualification board has declined to strip Dagir Khasavov of his attorney license for making statements on the need to legalise Sharia trial in Russia, which provoked a massive outcry, Khasavovs defense attorney Sergei Belyak told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com).

The association terminated the administrative proceedings initiated by the Justice Ministry.

Khasavov's representative has said that his client is still considered a suspect. He has already testified and some of his relatives, as well as several journalists, have also been interrogated.

In his interview with REN TV channel, Khasavov declared that Russia needs Sharia trial. According to him the Muslim community should set its own rules and if it faces resistance, there will be blood shed.

Prosecutors have established that his statements were designated to incite hostility and hatred and humiliate a group of individuals based on their attitude to religion (Islam), and could also be regarded as a call for extremism. Investigators began their prosecution following an inspection.

In view of the prosecutors' conclusions, the Justice Ministry proposed that the Moscow Bar Association should deprive Khasavov of his status as a lawyer.

In a previous statement, Khasavov said attempts were made to portray him as an enemy of Russia, but there were no grounds for his license to be withdrawn. He is adamant that he has not violated his professional code of conduct.

The Moscow Bar Association currently has 8,245 members. In 2011, the association's qualification board took licenses away from 36 lawyers for misconduct.