Ten hunger-strikers continue their protest in Dagestan

Ten persons continue their hunger strike in the village of Shushiya, the Novolak District of Dagestan, with a demand to allocate land plots to local residents. One of the hunger-strikers has quitted the action because of her health problems.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 10 the hunger strike, initially declared on December 23, 2014, was resumed in the village of Shushiya. The protest was suspended on December 24 after the promise of the district head Gadji Aidiev to return the land that had been granted into lease to the Agrarian-Production Cooperative (APC) "Almaz", back to villagers. The hunger strike takes place in an uninhabited and unheated house located in the outskirt of the village; and initially there were 15 hunger-strikers. On February 13, 11 hunger-strikers continued their action.

On February 15, Ibis Djakhbarova, one of the protesters quitted the hunger strike, another participant Elmira Bagirchaeva told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "She felt bad; and now she is in bed at home," said Bagirchaeva.

According to her story, on February 15 the protesters were visited by members of the Laks' National Council, the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party, journalists of the weekly "Chernovik" (Draft), and officials from power agencies – the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the local Department of the FSB. "Only state officials were absent," said one of the hunger-strikers.

She reported that the protesters were preparing a letter to Sergey Melikov, the Russian president's envoy in the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD), which will describe the situation in Novostroy and formulate the hunger-strikers demands.

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