Kebedov: Dagestanis who invited people to rally against power agents' lawlessness on January 27 detained

Today, in Makhachkala, law enforcement agents detained seven mosque's parishioners, who distributed leaflets calling out for a rally against arbitrariness of power agents on January 27. This was reported by Abas Kebedov, one of the organizers of the rally, co-Chairman of the human rights organization "Dagestan - Territory of Peace and Development".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Dagestan, the authorities allowed the organizers of the rally to hold the protest action on January 27.

"I just came out of the mosque, when I saw that one of the parishioners, who distributed the leaflets, was approached by two policemen. They asked him to stop distributing the leaflets, then forced him into their car and drove away to some unknown destination. Later, the mosque was approached by several cars with policemen, who began to walk around the mosque," Ali Mutaelumov, a witness of the incident, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Information about the detention was confirmed by Abas Kebedov, one of the organizers of the rally, co-Chairman of the human rights organization "Dagestan - Territory of Peace and Development". "In total, 7 persons were detained, 6 of them were brought to the OVD (Interior Division) of the Lenin District of Makhachkala, one to the OVD of the Soviet District. Gasan Gadjiev is among the arrested persons, the information about other detainees is being clarified," Abas Kebedov said.

He has also stated that he intends to seek assistance from the relevant authorities. "The rally was allowed, and the actions of policemen were unlawful; we should not think that was an arbitrariness of several heads of the OVD, that was a prescription of the authorities," Abas Kebedov has stated.

The police units on duty of the Lenin and the Soviet Districts told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they knew nothing about the incident.