Activists criticize investigators' findings on organizers of riots in Makhachkala

The Stavropol Territorial Court has begun considering the case against four defendants, whom investigators believe to be the organizers of the riots at the Makhachkala Airport. There are no proofs in the records from the airport that they coordinated the actions of the crowd.

The trial that began at the above court can be treated as most important, since natives of Dagestan are in the dock, who are accused not just of taking part in, but of organizing the riots, says Shamil Khadulaev, the chairman of the Dagestani Public Oversight Commission (POC).

"It seems that they want to make these people the main culprits, although many questions arise in general about this case," he has stated.

One of these questions is the accusation against Gadji Imanmurzaev. "There is a video in which one can hear him calling on people to calm down, trying to stop what is happening. But investigators believe that he was the organizer and, on the contrary, provoked the riots," Mr Khadulaev has added.

A source has explained that at first all the defendants would not plead guilty. "But then their position began changing. It seems to me that this was the result of pressure on them and hopes to receive a minimum punishment for agreeing to cooperate with investigators," he said.

Aza Alieva, an advocate, who earlier represented Patimat Sharudinova's interests, posted a video in her Instagram* page, in which a woman holding a Palestinian flag shouts: "Don't be afraid of the guards," which elicited approving cries from those around her.

Arsen Magomedov, a lawyer and a former member of the Dagestani Public Chamber, is surprised that Patimat has been charged with organizing riots.

"As far as I know, this woman was waving a flag and did nothing else. Putting her in jail for these actions is a very big mistake ... Especially since she is a disabled woman and the mother of a minor child," he has added.

According to his story, such steps lead to even greater alienation of the authorities from the people in Dagestan.

From the legal viewpoint, waving a flag is not an element of organizing protests, a lawyer from the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence** has noted.

*On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning the Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.

**As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the roster of foreign agents was the spread of "inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces."