Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of January 18-23, 2022

Kidnapping of a human rights defender Yangulbaev’s mother by Chechen law enforcers in Nizhny Novgorod; resignation of Armen Sarkisyan from the post of President of Armenia; strike of social workers in Georgia; public outcry after a conflict between a native of Dagestan and passengers of a bus in Moscow; report of the law enforcement bodies about the liquidation of crypto farms in Dagestan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of January 18-23, 2022, prepared by the “Caucasian Knot”.

Kidnapping of human rights defender Yangulbaev’s mother by Chechen law enforcers in Nizhny Novgorod

On January 20, the “Committee Against Torture”* reported that Zarema Yangulbaeva (also referred to by the media as Musaeva), a spouse of retired federal judge Saidi Yangulbaev, was unconsciously taken away from her Nizhny Novgorod apartment in cars with state registration numbers that corresponded to Chechnya. On January 21, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov confirmed that the woman had been brought to Grozny to testify as a witness in a fraud case. Ramzan Kadyrov also said that “law enforcers were carrying out lawful and coordinated operational actions,” and the woman “earned a criminal charge against herself” by attacking a law enforcer in Grozny. Furthermore, according to Ramzan Kadyrov, one of the Zarema Yangulbaeva’s sons voices direct and open threats against the leader of Chechnya. Ramzan Kadyrov threatened that the whole Yangulbaev family faced a place “in prison or underground.” Human rights defender considered the kidnapping of Zarema Yangulbaeva a means of pressure on her family. On January 22, Abubakar Yangulbaev, a lawyer for the North-Caucasian branch of the “Committee against Torture”*, called on the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) to check for extremism the threats voiced by Ramzan Kadyrov against the Yangulbaev family. In response, Ramzan Kadyrov accused the human rights defender’s family of organizing an attack on a former Chechen law enforcer in Turkey and calling for terrorism. The European Union called for the release of Zarema Yangulbaeva who was detained and forcibly transferred to Chechnya. On the same day, it was reported that her husband Saidi Yangulbaev and daughter Aliya left Russia. Abubakar Yangulbaev confirmed the departure of his father and sister. The human rights defender himself left Russia before the New Year holidays.

It should be noted that in December 2021, Abubakar Yangulbaev reported about the kidnapping of his 37 relatives in Chechnya. At the same time, other critics of Ramzan Kadyrov also reported about the kidnapping of their relatives. Abubakar Yangulbaev himself was questioned in Pyatigorsk as a witness in a case on justification of terrorism due to a post in one of the opposition Telegram channels, and a search was carried out at a place of his residence. The human rights defender denied the information about his alleged involvement in the mentioned Telegram channel.

Resignation of Armen Sarkisyan from post of President of Armenia

On January 23, Armen Sarkisyan announced that he was leaving the post of President of Armenia. When explaining the reasons for his resignation, Armen Sarkisyan stated that he did not have the tools to influence the country’s domestic and foreign policy and became a target for various political groups. Let us remind you that following the results of the constitutional referendum in 2015, Armenia switched to a parliamentary model of government, and not the president, but the prime minister became the first person of the republic. Armen Sarkisyan (Sargsyan) was elected by MPs as the fourth president of the country in early March 2018, and his term of office was to end in 2025. Demands for the Armen Sarkisyan’s resignation, along with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, were voiced by the opposition, dissatisfied with the actions of the Armenian authorities in delimiting the state border with Azerbaijan.

Strike of social workers in Georgia

On January 17, social workers went to a protest in Tbilisi to demand a 100% increase in salaries and the signing of a collective agreement. The Ministry for Public Health announced that starting from February, all social workers would receive a salary increase of about 60%, but the protesters said they were not satisfied with the proposal from the authorities. The strikers explained that their salaries had not been increased for 13-15 years. They also insisted on the annual indexation of salaries, taking into account inflation, compensation for transport costs, and medical insurance. On January 18, the protesters demanded a meeting with the Minister for Public Health, and on January 20, they demanded a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to discuss the issue they raised. On January 22, social workers announced the end of their strike after the Ministry for Public Health agreed to fulfil a number of their demands.

Public outcry after conflict between native of Dagestan and passengers of bus in Moscow

Last week, a wide public outcry was provoked by an incident, a video of which was posted on the Internet on January 16. The video depicted a native of Dagestan, who, emphasizing his nationality, showered insults and bad words on bus passengers in Moscow. On the same day, Sergey Melikov, the leader of Dagestan, stated that the native of the republic should apologize to both passengers and fellow countrymen, on behalf of whom he tried to speak. After the incident, a criminal case was opened on inciting ethnic hatred, and the police detained the suspect, who was identified as Shugaib Bolatukaev, a 29-year-old native of the Kizilyurt District of Dagestan. The young man recorded a short video in which he apologized for his words. On January 18, Shugaib Bolatukaev was arrested for two months. On the same day, his parents apologized for the incident.

Analysts interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot” said that the constant flow of public apologies devalued their significance for natives of Dagestan. According to Ruslan Gereev, Director of the Centre for Islamic Studies of Northern Caucasus, public apologies made en masse have led to the fact that repentance has become insincere and is perceived as a tribute to fashion.

Report of law enforcement bodies about liquidation of crypto farms in Dagestan

On January 20, the law enforcement bodies of Dagestan reported that they had stopped the operation of mining farms in Makhachkala, Kizlyar, the villages of Kulzeb and Novoye Gadari in the Kizilyurt District and seized 4343 units of computer equipment worth more than 500 million roubles. The total capacity of illegally consumed electricity was about eight megawatts per hour. Crypto farms operating in violation of the law lead to a critical increase in the load on the Dagestan power grid and cause frequent power outages for the population, the regional department of the FSB reports.

* The “Committee against Torture” (CaT) was included by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Russia in the register of NCOs-foreign agents in 2015. In this regard, leaders liquidated the organization and created a new legal entity: the “Committee for the Prevention of Torture”, which was also included in the list of foreign agents, and the organization was closed. At present, the “Committee against Torture” operates as an unregistered public association.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 24, 2022 at 08:20 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.