Residents of Kumtoraklin district in Dagestan protest against arbitrariness of authorities

On June 19, a meeting of local residents protesting against the arbitrariness of Sapiyulla Karachaev, head of the administration of Kumtoraklin district, Dagestan, took place in Korkmaskala, the district centre.

For reference, on March 20, 2006, a meeting of local residents, who were unsatisfied with the way land plots had been allocated, took place in Korkmaskala, the Kumtoraklin district centre.

The reason was the activity of Sapiyulla Karachaev, head of the district administration, who came from the settlement of Tarki near Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. According to Korkmaskala residents, Karachaev allocated land plots in the Kumtoraklin district mostly among his relatives and acquaintances from Tarki, thereby infringing upon the interests of the local residents. They had repeatedly raised the issue of unjust allocation of land before the head of the administration, but their appeals were ignored.

On Monday, March 20, they again tried to be received by Karachaev in order to discuss the land allocation problem, but in vain. The indignant residents of Korkmaskala, among whom there were several hundreds of people, tried to get into the administration building but were rebuffed by the Karachaev's security guards who, in their turn, summoned Tarka residents, their supporters, for help. Some time later, more than a hundred Tarka residents drove to Korkmaskala in their cars in order "to stand up" for Sapiyulla Karachaev. At the same time, residents from other settlements of the Kumtoraklin district started to gather in Korkmaskala.

The Karachaev's supporters barricaded themselves in the administration building while the local residents started to attack it. Several fire shots were allegedly fired from the building; the attackers used stones and other objects as their "weapons." The republic's riot squads soon came to the place of the incident, but they were unable to calm down the residents. Clashes took place; the riot squad officers had to use their batons and fired in the air. The clashes resulted in damage inflicted both on the militiamen and the residents. The NTV journalist who reported from the place of the incident also was lightly wounded.

When Adilgherei Magomedtaghirov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan, and Prime-Minister Shamil Zainalov, came, they managed to calm down the raging crowd. They promised to objectively consider the incident and undertake all measures to settle the conflict. Muhu Aliev, President of Dagestan, personally monitored the progress.

In April 2006, a criminal case was initiated with regard to Sapiyulla Karachaev, head of the Kumtoraklin district, under art. 286 of the RF CC ("administrative excess").

However, according to residents, the situation has not changed despite the promise of the Dagestan authorities. Arslanali Murzabekov, deputy chairman of the patriarchs' council of the Kumtoraklin district, states to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that "Karachaev continues selling out land, illegal construction is under way everywhere, more than 400 hectares of agricultural land has been wasted away and allocated for private construction." According to the information obtained by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent from the law enforcement agencies, 176 instructions on land allocation have been invalidated by the prosecutor's office, but, nevertheless, illegal construction continues.

"Our repeated appeals to Mukhu Aliev, President of Dagestan, have been in vain, stated local residents in their interview with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. We have been promised that Karachaev will be punished and ousted from the post, but he continues his arbitrary actions claiming that he enjoys reliable "cover" in the higher echelons of power. We are growing disillusioned with the new Dagestan leadership and do not believe hollow promises any more."

The district residents demand that the head of the administration of the Kumtoraklin district, Dagestan, should be displaced and warn that they are prepared for more resolute actions.