23 April 2008, 17:14
Sochi militia beat Old Ritualists before the eyes of IOC members
Today, during the visit of the coordination commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the Imereti Valley, Krasnodar Territory, a clash burst out between local residents and militiamen.
The "Gazeta.Ru" correspondent reports that when members of the IOC commission arrived to the Valley to inspect the Olympic sites, several dozens persons, mainly members of the Old Ritualists' community, tried to break through to them aiming to hand over petitions against their eviction.
Eventually, militiamen started beating the people with truncheons, taking away their posters and forcing the protesters into the adjacent cemetery. Later, an OMON (Special Militia) unit arrived to help the militiamen: eight persons wounded and several tombs damaged.
Three persons were detained in the incident, but later released.
The "Rosbalt-South" writes that the village of Old Ritualists is situated on the Black Sea shore, near the Imereti Bay, and the villagers categorically refuse to leave their residence. The village appeared there early in the 20th century, it was founded by families of Old Believers who returned to Russia from the Ottoman Empire after the 1905 Russian law on religious toleration. Today, the main business of Old Ritualists is gardening.
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