Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of January 21-27

Disturbances in the Azerbaijani city of Ismailly; anniversary of the terror act in the Moscow "Domodedovo" Airport; celebration of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad and death of militants' leaders Gakaev brothers in Chechnya; acknowledgement by the Moscow City Court of the verdict to Rasul Mirzaev as legitimate; recall of licence from the major in Dagestan "Express"; demand of Cossacks in Rostov-on-Don to recognize them as a nation; resignation of Mayor of Akhtubinsk in Astrakhan Region, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of January 21-27, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Turmoil in Azerbaijani city of Ismailly

At night on January 24, the Azerbaijani city of Ismailly was hit by disorders with participation of about two thousand persons. The crowd made a pogrom in Hotel "Chyrag" and then set it on fire, clobbered the villa of the head of the region Nizami Alekperov, set its premises and the automobiles stored there on fire. On January 24, local residents several times tried to hold protest actions in front of the district administration with a demand of resignation of Alekperov; however, power agents dispersed them with application of tear gas. According to the police, the disorders were triggered by a road accident with participation of a hotel employee. According to the authorities of the district, in total 32 persons were detained, while observers report about at least 150 detainees.

On January 26, the central Baku was the venue of a non-sanctioned action in support of residents of Ismailly "Take your weapons away!" The action was organized through the social network Facebook by a group of young activists. The policemen dispersed the protesters by using rubber truncheons. Over 40 persons were detained. The list of detainees includes a well-known blogger Emin Milli, a human rights defender Malakhat Nasibova, a human rights lawyer Intigam Aliev and a journalist Khadidja Ismajlova.

One year after the terror act in Moscow "Domodedovo" Airport

January 24 was one year after the terror act committed at the Moscow International "Domodedovo" Airport. The terror act at the "Domodedovo", which killed 37 persons, was committed on January 24, 2011. Dokku Umarov, the leader of militants of Northern Caucasus, took responsibility for the act, which was committed, as investigators assert, by Magomed Evloev, 20, a resident of the village of Ali-Yurt, Nazran District of Ingushetia. Currently, the Moscow Regional Court holds a trial on the case of the terror act; the prisoners' dock holds the residents of Ingushetia brothers Ilez and Islam Yandiev, Bashir Khamkhoev and Akhmed Evloev. As asserted by investigators, 28 persons involved in organizing and committing the terror act have been identified, of whom 17 were killed on March 28, 2011, during special operations conducted in Ingushetia.

The memorial mourning service in the place of the terror act at the Airport on January 24 was attended by top managers of the "Domodedovo" and of the administration of the city.

Celebration of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad and death of militants' leaders Gakaev brothers in Chechnya

On January 24, the Chechen Republic held large-scale celebrations of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. The centre of religious festivities was the central mosque of the republic "Heart of Chechnya", where some relics, associated with Prophet Muhammad, were brought from Dubai. On the occasion of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad Grozny was visited by theologians and religious figures from many countries and muftis from the North-Caucasian republics, who took part in administering rites in the mosque "Heart of Chechnya". Local residents could see the events on the republic's TV Channels.

In the course of the special operation conducted in the Vedeno District on January 24, eleven suspected militants and two policemen were killed; this was reported by the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov. According to his story, the operation resulted in liquidation of brothers Khusein and Muslim Gakaev, leaders of illegal armed formations (IAFs), as well as Abuezid Djabrailov, also known as "Pilek". According to a source from the law enforcement bodies of the republic, it became possible to follow the trail of Gakaev brothers due to evidence of a member of their grouping, who surrendered on January 23. It is notable that according to militants, over 15 power agents were killed and wounded in the armed clash in the Vedeno District.

Upholding by the MCC of the verdict to Rasul Mirzaev

On January 21, the Moscow City Court (MCC) declined a complaint of the suffered party in the case of the wrestler from Dagestan Rasul Mirzaev and upheld the verdict, passed against him by the Zamoskvorechye Court of Moscow on November 27, 2012. Then, the court found Rasul Mirzaev guilty of causing death by inadvertency of the Moscow student Ivan Agafonov and sentenced him to two years of imprisonment; with account of already served term, Mirzaev was released in the courtroom.

Representatives of the family of Ivan Agafonov said that they would lodge a supervisory complaint to the Presidium of the MCC and to the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) asking to cancel the verdict and send the case to reconsideration; while Alexander Konakov, the senior coach of the Russian national team in combat sambo, said that Rasul Mirzaev was going to continue his career and already started training.

Recall of license from the bank "Express", the major bank in Dagestan

On January 21, the Russia's Central Bank announced a recall of license from the major Dagestani Bank "Express", which had over 200,000 clients, including about three thousand enterprises and organizations. The extreme measure of affection was applied in connection with a failure by the "Express" to observe the federal laws and normative acts of the "Bank of Russia". Until the very last day, the "Bank of Russia" did not want to recall the license from the Bank "Express"; however, the leaders of the latter failed to exhibit the "goodwill", said the National Bank of Dagestan. Many experts are sure that the bankruptcy of the "Express" was customized, while the press service of the bank reported that up to the start of January the bank had worked normally and observed all the provisions of the legislation.

Demand of Cossacks in Rostov-on-Don to recognize them as nation

On January 26, about 700 Cossacks held a rally in the Rostov-on-Don Sobino Park with a demand to recognize Cossacks as a nation. The participants were the Cossacks from the area of the Don and Terek Rivers. The rally of Cossacks in support of recognition them as a nation was sanctioned by local authorities. According to Pavel Serikov, the Ataman of the Zimovnikov Yurt, the Cossacks demand to put an entry about Cossacks into the registry of nationalities of the Information Classifier of the population of Russia, while officials are violating the Constitution of the Russian Federation by refusing to put the nationality "Cossack" into official documents.

It is noteworthy that on November 24, 2012, the "Cossack Party" was founded in Russia; it is now headed by Sergey Bondarev, Vice-Governor of the Rostov Region. At a press conference on November 26 the party leader declared that "Cossacks are a social class, a part of the civil society; therefore the party does not stick to any national, religious or other principle."

Resignation of Mayor of Akhtubinsk in Astrakhan Region

On January 25, the City Council of Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan Region, accepted the resignation of the Mayor Amangi Naruzbaev, announced by him on January 14 in his open appeal posted on the website of the administration. The official referred to the discrediting campaign unleashed in local mass media, mainly on the TV Channel, as the main reason for his decision and accused certain members of the district administration and power bodies of organizing the campaign. The Governor of the Astrakhan Region Alexander Zhilkin said in his comment on the resignation of the Mayor of that he regrets about the retirement of an "efficient manager" and that by doing so the Mayor "has disappointed the people who had trusted in his programme."