"Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports to court details of an attack at a rally

Karim Kasumov, who was accused of attacking a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent during an anti-corruption rally in Makhachkala, was repeatedly warned that the video record was made by a media representative, but he did not react and continued to hinder the work of journalists, reported at trial Patimat Makhmudova, an injured party in the case. 

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 18, the first court hearing took place in the case on an attack on the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Defendant Karim Kasumov, a resident of Dagestan, reported to the court that he admitted he had broken a video camera, but he did not know that the camera belonged to a journalist. 

Yesterday, the Soviet District Court of Makhachkala continued the trial in the case against Karim Kasumov, accused of obstructing the lawful professional activities of the journalist and damaging the journalist' property. 

According to investigators, on June 12, 2017, a man demanded from the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent to stop filming a rally of Navalny's supporters in Makhachkala and damaged the journalist's video camera by using force. 

Public prosecutor asked whether Patimat Makhmudova told the defendant that she was a journalist. Patimat Makhmudova replied that she and her colleagues explained to Karim Kasumov that they were journalists and were doing their job. "Policemen who were standing nearby also heard that," the journalist added. 

After the rally, Marat Ismailov, an organizer of the rally, demanded from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Prosecutor's Office bring to justice law enforcers who failed to respond to the actions of the provocateurs.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 8, 2018 at 01:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.