Dagestan lawyers demand safety guarantees from MIA and Prosecutor's Office

On July 29, the Board of the Bar of Dagestan disseminated a statement listing the facts of violence applied to lawyers in the republic and demanding to guarantee their safety and access to their clients. The statement was sent to the Minister of Internal Affairs Ali Magomedov and Public Prosecutor of Dagestan Andrei Nazarov.

One of the members of the board - lawyer Rasul Kadiev - told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the circumstances of appearance of the document. "Recently, Dagestan has seen frequent cases of violence applied to lawyers. In most cases, no culprits were ever found. It is enough to recollect two incidents only: in November 2007 Konstantin Mudunov received a pistol shot in his head; this year Sergey Kvasov was severely beaten, said Mr Kadiev.

According to his story, it is still more terrible, when violence is applied by employees of law enforcement bodies. "A month ago, in the territory of the Khasavyurt GOVD (City Interior Division), agents of the Khasavyurt OMON (Special Militia) severely beat Sapiyat Magomedova. More recently, Dzhamilya Tagirova received a fist blow in her face from an inspector of the Sovietskiy ROVD (District Interior Division). These incidents had numerous eyewitnesses, but none of the militiamen was ever punished," Mr Kadiev continued.

"We want to draw attention of the public and the authorities to the facts of violence; now the interested persons should take real steps, if Dagestan really wants to build a civil society," he concluded.