Rashid Kambarov, a 29-year old Muslim prisoner, has sued prison staff in Oregon for serving him meals that don’t comply with his religious beliefs.
According to the Oregonian, Rashid, who was convicted of first-degree rape in 2015, alleged that Oregon Department of Corrections staff did not give him meals that were halal, or prepared in an Islamic tradition. Halal meat is typically certified, similar to the Jewish meal practice of keeping kosher.
The department however said it serves both meat and kosher meals, which satisfies halal requirements as alternative food options.
The suit filed by Rashid said that vegetarian options provided to him were cross-contaminated with pork, a forbidden food in strict interpretations of Muslim practice.
Rashid claimed that he saw the staff preparing both the vegetarian options and salami, a pork product, at the same time, adding that knives used to cut vegetables were also used to cut ham.
He also claimed to have been served soup that had pork in it.
The suit claimed that Rashid’s 14th Amendment rights and protections under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act were violated. .
Kambarov is a Turkish national and was convicted of first-degree rape in 2015. He is serving a 100-month sentence.
