Resident of Dagestan complains of illegal police persecution

Ahmedudin Dalgatov, a resident of Dagestan, complains that his family is unlawfully persecuted by law enforcement bodies. A possible reason of harassment, according to observers, is that he and his wife are practicing Muslims.

"On March 20, at 4:00 p.m., three men dressed in civilian clothes came to the house, where I live with my wife. They did not introduce themselves. Since I was not at home, my wife didn't open the door ands spoke with them through the window. In rude words they demanded to let them in and asked about me. Then my niece came, and when my wife opened the door to let her in, those men broke into the house. They abused my wife, saw that I was not there and then left," Ahmedudin Dalgatov told in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, in the evening of the same day, his house was visited by four men in civilian clothes. "I was at home. They presented themselves as employees of the Sovietskiy ROVD (District Interior Division) of Makhachkala and said that they were sent to record our data. They wrote down everything, left, and for 20 minutes sat in the car in the yard of the house," said Dalgatov.

He added that this was not the end of persecution of his family: "After that, a woman-neighbour ran to us all in tears. She said that power agents visited her and tried to force her, under threats, to nose upon us. Her son was visited at his work by people who presented themselves as employees of Centre 'T' and told the young man that he should spy after us, telling them who comes to us and so on. One of the power agents introduced himself as Shamil and warned that if the neighbours did not denounce against us, measures would be taken against them."

Dalgatov said that earlier he had never been suspected or accused of anything by the police.

"My wife is an invalid, she has kidney cancer; we lost four children, who died before reaching six months; apparently, because of her illness. She can't be nervous at all; and here they come and make her worry," the man complained.

The resident of Makhachkala said that he and his wife are practicing Muslims: "I have a beard; and my wife wears a hijab. I guess it caught the attention of power agents. I've already visited rights defenders and wrote an application about the incident."

At the same time, the on duty unit of the Sovietskiy ROVD of Makhachkala has no records that on March 20 its employees visited the house where the Dalgatov family lives. "I have no records that somebody visited him. If there are calls, then we send a police unit; while on other cases they don't report to us; and we make no records," the on duty officer Karim Alisultanov explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The policeman believes that law enforcers do not visit people for no reason: "He must know himself who came to him and for what purpose. We don't come without reason. He should have been told that he was addressed under some particular case."

In the opinion of Arthur Mamaev, an observer of the Dagestani weekly "Chernovik", such actions of power agents are associated with their hostility to practicing Muslims (those who strictly observe the provisions of the Koran, - note of the "Caucasian Knot").

"The authorities of almost all the republics of the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) recognize the existence of the so-called 'lists of Wahhabis' or 'lists of unreliable persons'. They contain graduates of Islamic universities in the Middle East, men wearing beards and people who come to the mosque for their morning prayer (namaz)," said Arthur Mamaev and added: "Some time ago heads of interior divisions were strongly criticized by their bosses, if Wahhabis were registered in their territories. Here, the policemen's practice to have some 'unreliable' persons for reporting is combined with enmity to practicing Muslims."

According to the journalist, "it is much easier for policemen to come into the house of a bearded Muslim in Makhachkala than to look for actual militants in forests and mountains." "Power agents are not ready for the latter both physically and morally; this was stated by the late Minister of Internal Affairs Adilgerei Magomedtagirov, who himself, by the way, was a very brave man," said Mamaev.

The observer of the "Chernovik" also noted that the "lists of unreliable persons are not the initiative of ordinary MIA employees - it is surely an order from above."

"Such persecutions only add arguments to radicals, who justify the need to wage war against oppression of Muslims," concluded Mamaev.