Experts attribute arrests and searches in Dagestan to election

The arrest of the head of the Kizlyar District, the detention of the head of the Buynaksk District and searches of houses of Sagid Murtazaliev and Khizri Shikhsaidov have signs of political pressure and connected with the forthcoming election of the Mayor of Makhachkala, said the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today a police source has reported a search in the house of Khizri Shikhsaidov, the Chairman (Speaker) of the People's Assembly of Dagestan. During the search, they detained Daniyal Shikhsaidov, a son of Khizri Shikhsaidov, who is also the head of the Buynaksk District. Andrei Vinogradov, the head of the Kizlyar District, was detained at night on July 27; and on July 28, the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) reported that Vinogradov and his relative Sagid Murtazaliev, the head of the Dagestani branch of the Russian Pension Fund (RPF), are figurants in the case about several crimes.

The aim of the operative activities is not to admit Sagid Murtazaliev to the election of the Mayor of Makhachkala, Ramazan Radjabov, a political commentator of the Dagestani newspaper "Novoye Delo", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The arrests in Kizlyar and Buynaksk are the links in one chain and the result of the struggle for the post of the Mayor of Makhachkala. Everything is done not to admit Sagid Murtazaliev to the capital of Dagestan," said Radjabov.

We should expect more arrests, Milrad Fatullaev, the editor-in-chief of the "Nastoyaschee Vremya" newspaper, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. He also believes that the operative-investigative activities have to do with the upcoming election.

"They are cleansing the field for the head of the republic Ramzan Abdulatipov. He has no team of his own – he can only rely on the help from Moscow," said the journalist.

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