ORENBURG, December 20 - RAPSI. The Orenburg Regional Court has upheld a lower court ruling declaring as extremist eight books seized from the organizer of a local branch of an international religious organization, the regional prosecutor's office reported on Thursday.

The religious literature was seized during searches conducted as part of a criminal case initiated against the individual under the article on extremist organizations.

In May 2009, the local branch of the Tablighi Jamaat religious organization was opened in the region. The organization's activity was declared extremist and prohibited by the Supreme Court.

The organization promotes the idea of unifying all Muslims. A district court ruling upheld the regional prosecutor's office's application to declare eight books to be extremist, including Abu-Hamid al-Ghazali's "Instructions to Rulers," and Adbu-al-Aziz Al Abdul-li-Lyatyf's "Righteous Behavior and Catharsis."

After a psycho-linguistic judicial examination, the literature was found to be extremist. The court is presently considering a criminal case against the organizer of the branch and his accomplices.

In December 2011, the Tomsk District Court refused to satisfy the local prosecutor's office's lawsuit to ban the book "Bhagavad Gita As It Is," as extremist, as it found no grounds to substantiate the suit's claims.

The prosecutor's office's petition to declare "Bhagavad Gita As It Is" extremist has sparked public indignation in India and was called a violation of Hindu rights. Several lawmakers have called on the Russian government to stand up for the rights of Hindus in Russia.

"Bhagavad Gita As It Is" is a translation and commentary of the original Bhagavad Gita Hindu scripture. It was written by International Society for Krishna Consciousness founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The book has been translated into over 60 languages.