Last article by Khadjimurad Kamalov, assassinated in Dagestan, was on election of the head of Gunib District

Today, on December 16, the latest issue of the Dagestani weekly "Chernovik" (Draft) has published the last article, written by its founder Khadjimurad Kamalov. The article was published already after the death of the author.

Let us remind you that Kamalov was shot dead at about 11:30 p.m. Moscow time on December 15 in Magomed Gadjiev street in Makhachkala, not far from the office of the "Chernovik". Criminals made 14 shots at Kamalov. The wounded journalist was taken to the Republic's Trauma Centre, but he died on the way there.

The Khadjimurad Kamalov's article "On Gunib: All Word of Mouth", published in No. 49 of the "Chernovik", describes the voting on December 4 at election of the head of the Gunib district administration. In the first round, Abdulnasyr Chupanov won 3082 (33.02%) votes, Pakhrudin Magomedov - 3056 (32.74%) votes, and the current head of the district administration Daniyal Aliev - 2978 (31.90%) votes. Thus, Aliev is outside the second round of the election to be held on December 18.

Khadjimurad Kamalov hinted, rather clearly, in his article that Chupanov's victory was secured by members of the former local administration and other influential people of the Gunib District, whom he calls "the fathers of the district." "However, should 'those former ones' and 'fathers', who backed Chupanov, have failed to toss into his election campaign about 'five lyams' (five million, - note of the "Caucasian Knot"), how many votes had Abdulnasyr won?" Kamalov asked in his article.

Further, the author states that Abdulnasyr Chupanov is backed by the former head of the district Abdulkhalim Machaev, who, according to Kamalov, "had ruled the district unchallenged for 12 years." Also, the author names several influential people from Machaev's retinue, who were, in the opinion of the late founder of the "Chernovik", interested in Aliev's failure at the election.

Let us note here that so far there was no reaction from the people mentioned to Kamalov's article.

Meanwhile, Biyakay Magomedov, the editor-in-chief of the "Chernovik", has refuted the version publicized in some media that No. 49 of the weekly was to publish a certain material criticizing some power agencies of Dagestan, which could cause Kamalov's killing.

"Every issue of 'Chernovik' publishes something 'hot', which may be disliked by someone. I can't say that his assassination was caused by some particular publication in the latest issues of the 'Chernovik'," Magomedov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

However, he refused to announce any clearly defined version of the murder of his boss. "The reason for the murder was in his journalistic activities; Khadjimurad was not a businessman - he was a journalist. The reason should be sought here; however, let the respective body conduct the inquiry. It's their job," said Magomedov.

He also refuted the reports that Kamalov had been threatened by power agents. "Should he have received threats, he could have hired bodyguards, but he didn't do it. He moved freely around the city, believing that there was no threat to his life," said Biyakay Magomedov.

However, one of the journalists of the edition, who asked not to disclose his name, expressed his confidence that Khadjimurad Kamalov was killed because of the prepared article about power agents' actions in Dagestan. "I don't know whether he had received threats or not, but the pressure on the newspaper was felt constantly. We were as on a powder keg, many in Dagestan were irritated by our publications - who exactly, can be defined by reading our weekly," said the source.

He added that in the near future a protest action is planned against killings of media workers in Dagestan. "We want to take portraits of all the journalists who have perished recently here and hold a march. The authorities shall not remain silent, saying just standard phrases," said the source of the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Let us note here that the experts questioned by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent doubted the existing link of the murder of Khadjimurad Kamalov with the existence of the so-called "death lists". Note that in September 2009 Khadjimurad Kamalov was put on the "death lists" that were disseminated in Makhachkala. Their unknown authors called to "kill the bandits and take revenge for policemen and civilians." Kamalov was one of the eight Dagestani journalists, who were treated in those leaflets as "militants' helpers".

The experts also agreed that Khadjimurad Kamalov was equally uncomfortable for different influential layers of Dagestan, which gave many reasons for elimination of the founder of the weekly "Chernovik".

Today, in Makhachkala, journalists, friends and relatives of Khadjimurad Kamalov held a spontaneous rally that turned into a funeral procession with the body of the deceased. Kamalov was buried after the Friday prayer into the cemetery in Makhachkala.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the investigation relates Kamalov's murder with his professional activities.