Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of August 19-25

Definition of candidates for the heads of Dagestan and Ingushetia to be elected by respective local parliaments on September 8; special operation in Buynaksk and unrest in Karaman in Dagestan; announced sentence to four officials for Krymsk flood; start of hearing in relation to 16 persons accused of links with militants in Karachay-Cherkessia; registration of the first presidential candidate and nomination by opposition of backup united candidate, – look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of August 19-25, 2013, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".

Nomination of candidates for heads of Dagestan and Ingushetia to be elected by regional parliaments on September 8

On August 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin brought to the People's Assembly of Ingushetia the three following candidates for the post of head of the republic – the local MPs will make their choice on September 8: Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the current acting head of the republic; Uruskhan Evloev, the chairman of the regional branch of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party and a Deputy of the City Council of Nazran; and Magomed Tatriev, Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly of Ingushetia. On the same day, Vladimir Putin did the same for the parliament of Dagestan, where the candidates are Ramazan Abdulatipov, the acting head of Dagestan; Malik Bagliev, the former chairman of the Audit Chamber of Dagestan and the current Minister of Labour and Social Development; and Ummupazil Omarova, the Dagestani Ombudsperson.

Local experts believe that Abdulatipov's rivals have no chances at the September 8 election in Dagestan and treat the event as "contest without contesters." Ingush observers also state that the current election of the head of Ingushetia is uncontested.

Dagestan: special operation in Buynaksk and unrest in Karaman

On August 20, in the Dagestani city of Buynaksk, law enforcers blocked a group of armed persons in a two-story private house. According to power agents, the blocked militants were members of the so-called "Buynaksk grouping" of the armed underground. During negotiations, the wife of the house owner with a baby came out; then, a storm began, resulting in ten casualties and four wounded power agents. Law enforcers stated that one of the casualties was identified as Bammatkhan Sheikhov, the leader of the grouping of the Dagestani armed underground, also known as "Seifulla" (Allah's Sword). Later, militants confirmed Sheikhov's death in the special operation in Buynaksk.

On August 21, Karaman (locality Karaman (Black Stones) refers to the Kumtorkalin District of Dagestan and is located near Makhachkala) was visited by residents of Tarkin and Lak villages, who were dissatisfied with allocation of land plots; mass disorders burst out among them. According to the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), a total of 700 people were involved; and four policemen were wounded. Zalimkhan Valiev, the head of the public council of the village of Kyakhulay, said that there were injured people also among the rioters. After the unrest, Lak and Tarkin villagers agreed on a moratorium on building houses in Karaman until the election of the head of Dagestan, said Muslim Gasan-Guseinov, the spokesman for the Laks; while Magomed-Amin Magomedov, who represents the interests of Tarkins, said that the issue of moratorium will be first discussed at the gathering of Tarkin nationals. The gathering was held on August 25 and discussed a draft appeal to Ramazan Abdulatipov, where they justify the need to set up the Tarkin District. They plan to send the appeal in the next few days.

Krasnodar Territory: court delivers verdict to four officials on the flood in Krymsk

On August 21, the Abinsk District Court that holds its sessions in Krymsk finished reading out the sentence in the case of four officials related to the flood in the Krasnodar Territory in July 2012. On August 19, the judge said that all the defendants were guilty. Under the verdict, Vasily Krutsko, the former head of the Krymsk District, was sentenced to 6 years in prison; Vladimir Ulanovsky, the ex-Mayor of Krymsk, was sentenced to 3.5 years of imprisonment; and Viktor Zhdanov, the former acting Head of Disaster Prevention District Department, was sentenced to 4.5 years in a colony-settlement. The former head of the rural settlement Nizhnebakansky Irina Ryabchenko was sentenced to 3.5 years of probation. The state prosecution found the punishment reasonable, why the advocate of Krutsko announced his intention to appeal against the verdict.

KChR: SC starts hearing the case of 16 suspected militants

On August 23, the Supreme Court (SC) of the Karachay-Cherkessian Republic (KChR) held its first session on the case of 16 local residents, charged with participation in an illegal armed formation (IAF) under command of Islam Uzdenov. Power agents assert that the grouping of Uzdenov, who was killed in a special operation in December 2011 in the village of Uchkeken, Malokarachay District of the KChR, committed a whole series of attacks on the police of the KChR and Stavropol Territory. Denislam Semyonov and Osman Baichorov, who were detained on February 15 in Stavropol, are among the defendants. The first session of the SC examined the procedural issues; the defendants were familiarized with the indictment; most of them refused to plead guilty.

Azerbaijan registers its first presidential candidate

On August 25, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan registered the first presidential candidate for the election to take place on October 9 – namely, the incumbent President Ilham Aliev, nominated by the ruling party "Yeni Azerbaijan". On August 22, the nomination documents on the screenwriter Rustam Ibragimbekov, a candidate from the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), were submitted to the CEC. The documents include a certificate that he has no obligations to the Russian state and that he had applied for renunciation of Russian citizenship. On August 23, the NCDF nominated its backup presidential candidate – Professor Jamil Gasanli from the Baku State University. This was done in view of a possibility that Ibragimbekov's registration may be rejected.