Dagestani truckers blame authorities of ignoring their protests

Andrei Bazhutin, the leader of the Association of Russian Carriers, came to meet the heavy truck drivers, who hold their protesting in Dagestan, who told him that during 12 days of their strike Federal TV Channels had not dared to truthfully cover the protests, while local authorities failed to start dialogue.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Russia truckers hold protests since March 27. The strike in Dagestan is one of the most massive, despite the pressure from the police.

Andrei Bazhutin has expressed his admiration with the solidarity of local drivers and urged them to "stand up to the end."

He added that journalists of state TV Channels refused to come to the meeting.

The Dagestani authorities would not listen to truckers, said Idris Magomedov, a protester, noting that truckers from all the republics of Northern Caucasus come to support the Dagestan action.

The key aim of the protest is the abolition of the "Platon" system, but first truckers want to hit an "intermediate goal" – to meet the Minister of Transports Sokolov and the Prime Minister Medvedev, said Bazhutin.

The Dagestani protest action continues under close attention of the power agents; although, compared with yesterday, there are fewer law enforcers, said Arsen Saidov, a trucker.

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