DFWatch (15–21 August 2015)

Dagestan

According to National Antiterrorist Committee of Russia, the leader of the Vilayyat Daghestan Mountainous Sector of the Caucasian Emirate, Gadzhi Abdullayev (known as Abu Dujana), was killed in course of the antiterrorist operation on August 16 in the village of Gimry in Untsukul district. The other man killed in the operation is yet to be identified.

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

Shamil Abdurakhmanov, a policeman, was shot dead in Makhachkala’s Novyy Khushet suburb of on August 17. According to local security bodies, Abdurakhmanov was shot when he was on his way to work. The car of suspected killers was found on Makhachkala–Kaspiysk highway. More than ten inhabitants of the suburb where the murder took place were arrested.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

A press conference about mass fabrication of cases against the Salafi community took place in the press centre of newspaper Chernovik in Makhachkala on August 20. The conference was attended by relatives and lawyers of the people who were arrested following the murder of Shamil Abdurakhmanov in Novyy Khushet suburb of Makhachkala. One of the organisers of the conference complained that more than ten people were arrested, including women and handicapped people.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

Three unknown persons were killed on the border between Derbent and Tabasaran districts in a shootout with police on August 19. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Daghestan, the police attempted to stop the car for inspection, after which the passengers opened fire. The car caught fire and burnt down following the shootout.

Based on reporting by interfax.ru.

Chechnya

Chechen police is tightening security measures before the planned celebrations of the birthday of late Akhmat Kadyrov, father of the ruling president Ramzan Kadyrov, on August 23. Multiple guests from other republics of the Russian Federation as well as from abroad are expected to arrive in Grozny to take part in the celebrations. Akhmat Kadyrov was killed in a bomb explosion on a stadium on May 9, 2004, while serving as the first president of the Chechen Republic within the Russian Federation. Multiple streets and facilities in Chechnya are named after Akhmat Kadyrov, including the republic’s highest award: the Order of Kadyrov. Inhabitants of Chechnya are keen to anonymously criticise the personality cult as un-Islamic and at odds with Chechen traditions.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

On 20 August two female employees of café Lolita in Grozny were shot to death by three unknown men. The women were 55 and 45 years old. According to the representative of the republic’s Investigative Committee, the murder could be a case of ‘honour killing’.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

According to Chechen security forces, a 24-years-old resident of Akhchoy-Martan district was arrested under suspicion of being a member of illegal armed group. The local Ministry of Internal Affairs claims the man had a gun and armour.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

Ingushetia

On August 16, a group of twelve people was spotted near the village of Dattykh in Sunzha district moving towards the village of Bamut in Akhchoy-Martan district of Chechnya. According to the acting secretary of the Security Council of Ingushetia, Akhmed Dzeytov, the group engaged in an exchange of fire with security forces and some members of the group are wounded. Chechen police is currently engaged in the search of the group.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

According to local police, a 29-year-old resident of Sunzha district was arrested on charges of illicit arms trade and providing support to members of illegal armed groups. If found guilty, the man can be sentenced to up to ten years in prison.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

Two residents of Malgobek, including a former police officer, were accused for alleged drug trade. According to the investigative unit of Malgobek, the two facilitated purchase of drugs for financial gains.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.

North Ossetia

A cache of weapons was found during an antiterrorist operation in the mixed Ingush–Ossetian village of Chermen in Prigorodnyy district. According to a representative of the operational headquarters of North Ossetia, the a rifle, a grenade launcher, and a large quantity of ammunition was found.

Based on reporting by rg.ru.

Stavropol Krai

Deputy Imam in the village of Irgakly, Zamirbek Makhmutov, was found dead on 20 August. He was on his way for a morning prayer when he was shot to death by unknown perpetrators. Relatives of Makhmutov point out that the murder could be connected to his professional activities. Makhmutov was an ethnic Nogai and de facto top imam of Stavropol Krai’s Nogai community. He is the sixth victim among the krai’s religious activists since 2012. Some commenters point out islamophobia among inhabitants and police of the krai as one of the main factors leading to killings.

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

Kabarda–Balkaria

Almost one thousand people have so far signed an online petition to president Vladimir Putin, members of State Duma and the Federation Council of Kabarda–Balkaria called Stop extrajudicial executions. The author of the petition criticises the endless ‘counterterrorism operations’ and combatting religious extremism through extrajudicial violence instead of using the legal process and dialogue and calls for ‘bringing the North Caucasus back into the sphere of the rule of law’. 17 people were killed between 30 June and 3 August in the result of the operations.

Based on reporting by change.org.

Local branch of NGO For Human Rights in Nalchik was officially added to the registry of ‘foreign agents’. The organisation announced liquidation in the beginning of July following the Ministry of Justice’s refusal to remove the organisation from the registry.

Based on reporting by kavkaz-uzel.ru.