Rights activists declare Dagestani activist Eduard Ataev as political prisoner

Eduard Ataev, an activist from Dagestan, has been persecuted for political reasons; his criminal case was fabricated, the human rights project "Support for political prisoners. Memorial" has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Eduard Ataev, a former coordinator of Alexei Navalny's office* in Makhachkala, was accused of possessing a grenade and drugs. In November 2023, he was sentenced to 6.5 years in penal colony.

"In 2014, they already tried to bring Ataev to criminal responsibility. Then, during a search, they allegedly found a pistol on him, but law enforcers failed to initiate a criminal case due to procedural violations. On March 26, 2022, they came to Ataev again to conduct a search. The day before, law enforcers allegedly received a message about his involvement in a criminal case on drug dealing. They failed to prove his connection with the case, but during the search, law enforcers allegedly found a pistol, a hand grenade, cartridges and marijuana on Ataev," the above project has reported in its Telegram channel.

In court, Eduard Ataev stated that law enforcers had used violence against him and that they had planted weapons and drugs on him during the search.

Let us remind you that Eduard Ataev held solo pickets in Makhachkala calling, in particular, to stop corruption in the Khasavyurt District.

*Navalny's offices were recognized as extremist organizations and banned in Russia. Alexei Navalny was a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that was included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent. The NCO was also recognized by a court as extremist and banned in the territory of Russia.