Eight people persecuted after marching in Nalchik

During the march in Nalchik organized to mark the anniversary of the end of the Caucasian War, at least eight persons were detained. At least two of them were arrested under the administrative article on participation in an unsanctioned action and obstructing traffic.

Before the rally, dozens of participants were called by law enforcers who invited the people to come to a police station to receive a warning about the “inadmissibility of actions that create conditions for committing an offense.” At the beginning of the march, the police tried to move the column of activists from the roadway to the sidewalk, but the people continued moving, the “Memorial”* Centre for Human Rights Defence reports today.

“On May 23, it became known that at least eight participants in the action were detained and subjected to administrative arrests. One of the defendants has reported that the demonstrators are accused of participating in an unsanctioned event and blocking roads. Two participants were arrested for several days under Paragraph 6.1 of Article 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation,” the report states.

According to the information published on the website of the Nalchik City Court, it received materials on cases against seven persons under the article on participation in an unsanctioned gathering, rally, demonstration, march, or picketing that resulted in the creation of obstacles to the functioning of life support facilities, transport or social infrastructure, communications, pedestrian and (or) vehicle movement. No information on the results of the consideration has been published on the court’s website by 3:41 p.m. Moscow time.

Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the Human Rights Centre of Kabardino-Balkaria, has commented on the detentions and arrests of the march participants.

“Everything that is happening around the date in question compromises the republican and federal authorities. However, I believe that the federal centre issued no decrees or instructions concerning banning mourning events. I have no doubt that the republican authorities want to demonstrate their loyalty to the federal authorities in this way once again,” Valery Khatazhukov stated as quoted in the human rights defenders’ report.

The head of the Human Rights Centre of Kabardino-Balkaria has mentioned a well-known address by Boris Yeltsin to the peoples of Northern Caucasus in 1994. Boris Yeltsin openly stated that tsarist Russia waged a war of conquest against the peoples of Northern Caucasus, and the highlanders waged a national liberation war. At present, the authorities’ attitude to this date is changing. The imperial concepts will prevail, monuments to executioners of the Circassian people appear in Pyatigorsk, Mineralnye Vody, and the Krasnodar Territory,” Valery Khatazhukov is quoted in the human rights defenders’ report as stating.

“In different periods of history, depending on the political situation, the Caucasian War of the 1820-60s was assessed and covered in different ways. At present, when Russia is building a state based on the rule of law and recognizes the priority of universal human values, it becomes possible to interpret without bias the events of the Caucasian War as a courageous struggle of the peoples of the Caucasus not only for survival in their native land, but also for the preservation of their original culture and the best features of their national character,” Boris Yeltsin stated in his address of May 18, 1994, published on the Kremlin’s website.

Valery Khatazhukov has also mentioned the initiative proposed by Russian State Duma member Konstantin Zatulin, who introduced a draft law on repatriation to the Russian Federation. The draft law provides for the knowledge of the Russian language as a mandatory condition for repatriation to the country.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 23, 2025 at 03:42 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

*As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered “Memorial” Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the register of foreign agents was the spread of “inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces.”

**Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.