Investigators confirm initiation of criminal case against Mayor of Derbent

The Investigating Department (ID) for Dagestan of the ICRF has confirmed the initiation of a criminal case against Imam Yaraliev, the head of Derbent; however, no charges have been presented to him yet.

Earlier, on February 3, the Prosecutor's Office of Dagestan reported that checks conducted in the administration of Derbent revealed illegal disposal of land plots, which caused damage to the state amounting to more than 36 million roubles. On February 13, the Prosecutor's Office confirmed the institution of a criminal case against the Mayor under the article on abuse of office.

Imam Yaraliev is suspected of an illegal transfer of about 1500 square meters of land from the federal into the municipal property, said Rasul Temirbekov, a senior assistant to the head of the above ID of the ICRF.

The experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" diverged in their estimates of the prospects of the Imam Yaraliev's case. Thus, Gadjimurad Sagitov, the editor-in-chief of the Dagestani newspaper "Novoe Delo", believes that the criminal case was initiated by Yaraliev's opponents in Derbent; while his colleague, Milrad Fatullaev, the editor-in-chief of the edition named "Nastoyaschee Vremya", said that changing the key figures in power in Derbent, had been a long-standing desire of the republic's authorities.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.