Supporters of Totorkulov and Kurbanov: Public Chamber leadership ignores us

On May 30 in Moscow, about 200 people rallied against removal of the candidacies of Aliy Totorkulov, the chairman of the presidium of the "Russian Congress of Caucasian Nations" (RCCN), and Ruslan Kurbanov, a member of the executive committee of the Federal National and Cultural Autonomy of Russia's Lezgins from the elections to the Public Chamber (PC) of the Russian Federation.

The candidacies of Totorkulov and Kurbanov were removed by the decision of the working group that conducted a contest to select 43 members of the PC from the online voting several hours before its end.

The working group explained its decision by the fact that on the last voting day illegal information technologies were used in favour of Totorkulov and Kurbanov. The RCCN has rejected these allegations, asserting that residents of Northern Caucasus had really actively and massively voted for these candidates.

According to Sultan Togonidze, the campaign manager of Aliy Totorkulov, some PC members went out to meet the protesters, but no officials of the Chamber ever appeared.

"We receive calls of voters, who offer to block the road with the aim to draw attention to this fact of injustice; however, we try to draft some algorithm of our actions, and the RCCN plans to hold a sitting on this issue," Sultan Togonidze has concluded.

See earlier reports: Southern Russia starts creating Centre for Human Rights Monitoring and Protection, Officials ban screening film about Chechens' deportation referring to absence of reliable data about events in Khaibakh, In KBR, Circassian activist and journalist Timur Kuashev released from police.