Police prevents rally demanding resignation of head of Akhvakh District in Dagestan

On May 3, a rally had been planned in the village of Karata, the administrative centre of the Akhvakh District with a demand of resignation of the head of the local municipal formation Ismail Magomedsharipov. However, law enforcement authorities disrupted the event.

Initially, some members of the Jamaat of Karata initiated the protest action; later, residents of other settlements of the district wanted to join the rally. In total, about a thousand people were going to take part in it.

Imadibir Aligaziev, a resident of Karata, was a sort of a moderator of the rally, who was the first to climb the improvised podium. At the beginning of his speech, law enforcers went up to join him. They demanded to immediately stop the rally, because it was not officially sanctioned.

The crowd reacted with angry shouts; however, the moderator stepped down from the improvised and asked people to disperse.

"Residents of the district wanted to get together to discuss and solve their problems, but policemen followed the orders of their district and village bosses, who revealed ignorance of Russian laws," said Magomed Akhmednabiev, a villager of Karata.