DFWatch (22–28 August 2015)

Daghestan

Former mayor of Makhachkala, Said Amirov, was sentenced to life by a court in Rostov-on-Don on 27 August. His relative Yusup Dzhaparov was sentenced to 18 years in penal colony. Court found Amirov guilty of committing a terrorist act and endangering the life of an investigator. All members of Amirov’s group consisting of Yusup Dzhaparov, Murad Aliyev, brothers Abdulmazhid and Shamsutdin Akhmedov, Magomed Kadiyev, and Zubair Mutayev were sentenced to 10–22 years in penal colony under charges of organising murders, participation in illegal armed groups, banditry, terrorism, and arms trafficking. None of the defendants pleaded guilty. Some local experts point out that Amirov’s business empire still continues to thrive.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru and onkavkaz.com.

 

Members of the Party of Russia’s Veterans conducted a gathering in the city of Buynaksk demanding the change of the city administration due to unsolved communal problems, corruption, and terrorism. According to the organisers, approximately 500 people participated in the protest. Local said that all roads leading to Buynaksk were closed, effectively preventing inhabitants of suburbs and villages to join the protest.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

Two Chechen policeman were wounded in the city of Khasavyurt during an operation against a suspected member of the insurgency Ali Demilkhanov. According to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, the suspect opened fire to the policemen. There has been no information on whether the operation was pre-agreed and coordinated with the Daghestani authorities. There is a history of tensions between the local power structures regarding activities of the Chechen police in Daghestan. Ramzan Kadyrov allowed the Chechen police to open fire to representatives of power structures from other parts of Russia in case they conduct operations on the territory of Chechenia that weren’t been previously agreed with the Chechen authorities.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru and kavkazpress.ru.

 

Three suspected fighters were killed in the Leninskiy district of Makhachkala on 23 August by power agents. The security structures claim that they were connected to the murder of a policeman in the village of Novyy Khushet on 17 August.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

Suspected fighter Islam Muradov, better known by his nom de guerre Freestyler, was killed by security forces in Khasavyurt district on 24 August. According to the police, the suspect opened fire to power agents and was killed by return fire. According to security forces, Muradov was the leader of the Daghestani branch of  Islamic State.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru and kavkazpress.ru.

Chechnya

The 64th anniversary of the birthday of Akhmat Kadyrov, late father of Ramzan Kadyrov and the first president of the Chechen Republic as a part of the Russian Federation was celebrated on 23 August. According to local media, thousands of people from Chechnya and other parts of Russia arrived to Kadyrovs’ home village of Tsentaroy. A film about Akhmat Kadyrov was shown in Grozny as well as a play called My Way which tells a story of a young man who changes his mind about joining the Islamic State after power agents tell him that his father had been killed by ‘Wahhabists’. Ramzan Kadyrov made a public speech in which he called his father ‘one of the greatest Muslims of the world’ and pointed out that he ‘saved the Chechen nation from the brink of extinction’ and payed for it the price of his life. A winner of the swimming competition that was held in the mountain lake of Kezenoy-Am was awarded 200 thousand roubles (appr. 2,750 €). Reportedly, imams and their apprentices were forced to take part in the commemorative dhikr (a Sufi devotional ceremony commonly associated with the so-called Chechen ‘traditional Islam’) in Grozny’s main mosque. Some religious activists stated anonymously that celebrating a person’s birthday is not an Islamic practice.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

NGO Human Rights Centre of the Chechen Republic was included in the federal list of ‘foreign agents’. According to the Russian Ministry of Justice, the NGO is involved in political activism, including ‘organising public events and influencing public opinion’ aimed at ‘changing the policies of governmental institutions’.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

Deputy commander of battalion Sever and his wife were assassinated in Chechnya. Their corpses were found with gunshot wounds in the morning of 27 August in their room of the battalion hostel. According to investigators, the commander’s relative Idris Ayubov who is supposedly responsible for the murder was already detained. The battalion was formed in Chechnya in 2006 on Ramzan Kadyrov’s initiative. A number of the battalion’s servicemen are allegedly connected to Boris Nemtsov’s assassination in Moscow: Beslan Shavanov (according to power agents committed a self-explosion at detention), Zaur Dadayev (under arrest), and Ruslan Geremeyev (wanted).

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru, onkavkaz.com, and kavpolit.com.

 

On 26 August the dog expert team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs begin the check-up of school buildings for possible explosive devices. As of 1 September all schools will be taken under round the clock guard.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

Ingushetia

Two inhabitants of Nazran were arrested under charges of arms trade. The men were caught after attempting to sell a flare gun converted in such a way so it could fire live ammunition for 110 thousand roubles (appr. 1,500 €).

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

Head of the production department of housing and communal services in the city of Malgobek was arrested in Kislovodsk, Stavropol Krai after six years of being wanted on charges of abuse of power and embezzlement of 105 million roubles (appr. 1,450,000 €).

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

North Ossetia

Local businessman Soslan Kumallagov, head of company RosStroyInvest was charged with fraud in the amount of 29 million roubles (appr. 400,000 €) related to the implementing of government contracts for construction of sport fields and an arena for equestrian school. He can face up to 10 years in prison.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

Stavropol Krai

Representatives of the Slavic neopagan community of Ynglings complain of pressures and discrimination. On 21 August their organisation was proclaimed illegal on the territory of Russia and included in the list of extremist organisations. According to the members of the community, their credit cards become blocked and their homes are visited by unknown people, who might be power agents. According to the krai’s security structures, the leader of the community Sergey Bukreyev travelled to Ukraine and joined battalion Azov which is involved in Ukraine’s antiterrorist operation against self-proclaimed republics in the east of the country. Bukreyev is accused by Russian investigators of making public calls for extremist activities and recruiting mercenaries.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru and kavpolit.com.

Kabarda–Balkaria

Two Kabarda–Balkaria natives, Akhmat Ulbashev and Zafir Miziyev, were found guilty of terrorist activities and sentenced to 14 and 7 years of penal colony by the military court in Rostov-on-Don. According to the court, Ulbashev received training at the Islamic State’s military camps in November 2013 and joined the ranks of the United Vilayyat of Kabarda, Balkaria, and Karachay, the local branch of the Caucasian Emirate after return.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

A cache of weapons was found during in the settlement of Zalukokoazhe in Zolsk district. Power agents suspect that they could belong to a suspected fighter who was killed in 2013 in a private house during an antiterrorist operation.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

An inhabitant of Kabarda–Balkaria A. Tapaskhanova was accused of planning a contract murder of lawyer Rita Gilyayeva due to personal animosity. According to the investigators, the woman asked her friend to help her find a person to commit the assassination for 300 thousand roubles (appr. 4,100 €).

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

Karachay–Circassia

President of Karachay–Circassia, Rashid Temrezov, approved the resignation request of prime minister Murat Kardanov. Head of Federal Tax Service Ruslan Kazanokov was appointed as an acting head of the government. According to the republic’s legislation, all ministers resigned as well.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru and kavpolit.com.

 

Regional investigators arrested native of Zelenchuk district Kazbek Bostanov under charges of planning an assassination of an imam and attacking police officers. He can face life sentence if found guilty of the latter charge.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

 

Adygea

According to local media, more than twenty people (5 or 6 families) has left the town of Adygeysk since the beginning of the year. The parents of Murat Nekhay who was among the departed claim that the families left to the Islamic State through Turkey under the influence of local imam Yusuf Sheudzhen. Analyst Naima Neflyasheva points out that there is a potential for radicalisation in the region given the politicisation of religion in form of institutional support of the ‘traditional Islam’, the economic crisis and sharp deterioration in the quality of life, a general feeling of injustice, the ideological crisis of Circassian nationalism, and the increased online activity of radical preachers.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru and onkavkaz.com.

 

Krasnodar Krai

Three people were arrested in Krasnodar Krai under suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organisation. According to the investigators, the three ‘North Caucasus natives’ were planning to travel to Syria and join the Islamic State as fighters.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.