15:06, 16 April 2021

Attack on Ablyakimov in Makhachkala turns into criminal case

Ruslan Ablyakimov. Screenshot: http://www.instagram.com/p/CLq38bwjE7i/

In Makhachkala, policemen have begun investigating a criminal case of an attack on Ruslan Ablyakimov, an activist from the local Alexei Navalny's office, who himself said it today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at night on February 20, Ruslan Ablyakimov was attacked in Makhachkala. He linked the incident with the announcement of the opening of Alexei Navalny's office in Makhachkala.

Alexei Navalny's office opened in Makhachkala on April 11; and Eduard Ataev, a local activist, became its coordinator. On April 12, Ataev's associates reported that they could not contact him and his assistant Murad Manapov. On April 13, it became known that Eduard Ataev was serving 10 days of his administrative arrest in Khasavyurt, while his assistant, Murad Manapov, had been arrested on charges of petty hooliganism and was released on April 14.

Today, Ruslan Ablyakimov said that after the attack on him in Makhachkala, the Dagestani police have opened a criminal case. "While we were looking for Eduard and Murad (Ataev and Manapov), an investigator from the Sovietsky ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala remembered about me (coincidence?). He asked how I was doing, adding that from now on I had the honorary title of a victim in a criminal case. Yes, they initiated a criminal case for the February attack on me. Probably, this can be treated as our small victory. Especially amid all sorts of those absurd cases, in which my colleagues are the accused ones," Mr Ablyakimov wrote in his Instagram page.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 16, 2021 at 11:03 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.