Khasavyurt resident claims being beaten by relatives of top-ranking official

Relatives of an influential Dagestani official have severely beaten up Adam Ataev, a resident of Khasavyurt, after he had attempted to protect his acquaintance.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Adam Ataev himself that the incident had occurred a month ago. According to Adam Ataev, on that day he was travelling together with his friend and saw a small group of people.

"I asked my friend to stop, since I saw my acquaintance that was beaten there. I went out, approached a guy, who controlled the beating and talked to everyone using exclusively bad words, and said to him: 'Please stop behaving inappropriately (we may not use bad words, especially when surrounded by elders).' He pushed me back and used bad words to insult me, and I slapped him then. I knew him a little: he was a nephew of a [top-ranking official]. He began to call his relatives to come to support him," said Adam Ataev.

According to the man, almost immediately after he and his friend drove on, two SUVs forced their car to stop at the roadside. "People came out of the cars. There were about ten of them (they were also relatives of a [top-ranking official], as I later found them on the Instagram). They approached our car and told me to get out. I got out, since I thought they wanted to talk to me," Adam Ataev said.

However, according to the man, he was immediately hit with a pistol grip to his head. "I fell. I was lying unconscious, and they continued to beat me," Adam Ataev said. According to him, he lost at least a litre of his blood and came to conscience at the hospital, where passers-by took him.

The attackers also beat several young people who tried to stop the beating, Adam Ataev reported.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 19, 2019 at 08:05 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.