In Dagestan, office of "Mothers of Dagestan" burned down

Today, early in the morning, in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, arson was committed of the rented apartment, where the office of human rights activists is located. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed about it by Svetlana Isaeva, chair of the human rights organization "Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights".

"Everything has burned down: a computer, a fax, a printer and home appliances. The damage is over half a million roubles. We filed an application to the Sovietskiy ROVD (District Militia Division); however, they told us that a short circuit was the reason of the fire. It's not true, as there was no electricity in the office for two weeks; and we had disconnected all the electric appliances," said Ms Isaeva.

In her opinion, Dagestan's bureaucrats have to do with the arson; they had repeatedly expressed their discontent with the work of the human rights organization. She also said that despite the incident, human rights activists will go on working as usual.

"We'll surely have difficulties, but since August 25 we start working under the Project 'Monitoring and Legal Defence of Dagestanians' within a minor US grant in the sum of 21,700 US dollars. I understand that a mess will start, say, that we've been bribed again by the rotten West and so on, but personally for us it's absolutely all the same from where money comes, because we've solved and will solve particular problems of particular people, who have no other place to address," Svetlana Isaeva has summed up.

The Sovietskiy ROVD and the press service of the MIA of Dagestan refused to give any comments.