Dagestan: police stop rally in support of Kadyrov because of Murtazaliev portraits, locals report

Residents of Dagestan believe that the motor rally on route Kizlyar-Derbent was prohibited, since participants used portraits of Sagid Murtazaliev, the former head of the Dagestani office of the Russian Pension Fund (RPF), who was put on the international wanted list on the charges of financing of terrorism and organizing of attacks.

On January 24, the police blocked participants of the motor rally in support of Ramzan Kadyrov in Kizlyar, Khasavyurt, Kizilyurt, and Makhachkala. According to the "Chernovik" (Draft), the motor rally was organized by supporters of Sagid Murtazaliev, the former head of the Dagestani office of the Russian Pension Fund, and it was to be finished in Derbent. Organizers of the event claimed they had failed to obtain permission to conduct the all-Dagestan motor rally and thus it had been decided to hold a motor rally in Makhachkala.

The information on the prohibition of the motor rally has been broadly discussed in social networks. Abdurashid Saidov, a resident of Dagestan, has suggested that the motor rally was prohibited because of the presence of a large number of posters in support of Sagid Murtazaliev.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the idea to hold a rally in support of Ramzan Kadyrov appeared after human rights defenders and oppositionists had condemned the Chechen leader's statements that members of the non-systemic opposition should be treated "as enemies of the people".

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