19:58, 5 September 2017

Eyewitnesses of Akhobekov's detention demand to punish Gelendzhik policemen

The police officers. Photo: Denis Yakovlev / Yugopolis

Angela Maksidova and Inara Bedoeva, who eyewitnessed the detention of Salim Akhobekov, who was punished for dancing lezginka in the city of Gelendzhik, have addressed their complaints to rights defenders; the latter, in their turn, have asked the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) to conduct a check.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in late August, Salim Akhobekov from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) addressed rights defenders with a complaint about the actions of Cossacks and policemen, after he had served five days of arrest for dancing lezginka in Gelendzhik.

On August 11, in Gelendzhik, policemen detained young people who were dancing lezginka by using a tear gas can and injuring one of female tourists.

According to the KBR’s Human Rights Centre (HRC), the victims of the detention of dancers in Gelendzhik asked them to "help in protecting their rights and personal dignity."

"The events related to the dispersal in Gelendzhik... of Circassian folk dancers, caused a huge resonance in the world, especially in Northern Caucasus and in the countries with North-Caucasian Diasporas," the HRC’s website reports.

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