In Khasavyurt, villagers of Novy Kostek protest against election outcomes

Today, a rally was held in Khasavyurt, in front of the district administration, where statements were announced about massive violations admitted on March 13 during the elections of Deputies to the People's Assembly of Dagestan. The protest action headed by elders brought together about 200 residents of the village of Novy Kostek, Khasavyurt District. The district administration gave no reaction to the rally.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that Isa Magomedov, head of Novy Kostek and a candidate for the Parliament of Dagestan from the regional branch of the Party "Patriots of Russia", spoke, addressing the audience of the rally, about the rampant vote rigging. "In our dwelling settlement 2833 persons had voted for "Patriots of Russia", in the Khasavyurt District - 9900 persons, but all these votes were not entered into the State Automated System (SAS) "Vybory" (Elections)," said Magomedov.

Another speaker - Arslanali Pashamagomedov - said that the participants of the protest action just wanted to fin out, where their votes had disappeared. "We are holding a peaceful action solely to clarify the truth, to learn what had happened to our votes. We also want the government and the CEC (Central Election Commission) to know what is happening in the republic," he said.

The protesters demanded that the chairman of the TEC (Territorial Election Commission) of the Khasavyurt District or any official of the district administration come out to them, but this demand was not met; the bureaucrats preferred to watch the situation from the windows.

Then, the protesters attempted to enter the building; however, soon a big armoured truck drove up to the place and put down armed law enforcement officers. They do not interfere; however, the village elders decided to roll down their protest action.

Mr Pashamagomedov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that broader actions would be held quite soon.

The rally ended with adoption of an appeal to the President of Dagestan Magomedsalam Magomedov with a demand to investigate the situation and punish the perpetrators.

The press service of the Election Commission of Dagestan has stated that the elections had been held under the law; however, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was not admitted to the building of the district administration; securities said that this was the command of their boss, who whereabouts was unknown to them.

According to preliminary data of the CEC of the Russian Federation, the following parties entered the Parliament of Dagestan elected on March 13: "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) (66.27 percent of all the votes), "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) (13.13 percent), "Patriots of Russia" (8.48 percent) and CPRF (7.72 percent).