Dagestan: "Novoe Delo" wants to hold minister criminally liable

Today, advocate Magomed Gasanov, a proxy of the LLC "Novoe Delo", owner of the weekly of the same name, has filed a claim to the Federal Court of the Sovietskiy District of Makhachkala on defence of the honour, dignity and business reputation. The respondent under the claim is Garun Kurbanov, Minister for National Policy, Information and Foreign Relations of Dagestan.

The pretext for the claim was the minister's performance on October 5 at the sitting of the Security Council of Dagestan, where Mr Kurbanov said that the article by Ahmednabi Ahmednabiev "Time of Troubles", published in the above weekly, was nothing more than "a treachery of his own nation. Objectively, such editorial policy renders informational support to extremists in the eyes of the public, contributes to growth of their sympathizers, and, thus, serves the same aims, pursued by extremism ideologists, who use similar arguments for justification of their illegal actions."

In Gasanov's opinion, Mr Kurbanov's statement has nothing to do with reality; it discredits the business reputation of the weekly; therefore, in his claim the lawyer demands to oblige the respondent to issue a refutation and pay 1 million roubles of moral compensation.

Marco Shakhbanov, editor-in-chief of the "Novoe Delo", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the minister's utterance can become a signal for certain actions.

"The situation in Dagestan is tense. Every day someone is murdered; and when the authorities outline the image of new enemies as independent media and journalists, they get under threat of violence; moreover, the so-called "execution list" is still wondering over Dagestan, including two our journalists," said Mr Shakhbanov.

Mr Ahmednabiev believes that the trial will show to what extent local courts are free.