Chairman of Board of Elders fined for holding a meeting in Kabardino-Balkaria

Ismail Sabanchiev, Chairman of the Central Body of the Public Organization "Board of Elders of the Balkar People," one of the organizers of the meeting in Nalchik (capital of Kabardino-Balkaria) on July 14, was brought to administrative responsibility by the Nalchik magistrate court. He was mulcted a sum of 10 MROTs (floor salaries) for holding the meeting in Nalchik, despite the ban of the mayoralty, the IA "REGNUM" informs.

The "Caucasian Knot" has already informed that after the meeting the Prosecutor's Office of Kabardino-Balkaria has warned Mr Sabanchiev on inadmissibility of extremism. Then, Oleg Zharikov, Public Prosecutor of Kabardino-Balkaria, stated that the leaders of some public organizations of the Republic, in particular, the "Board of Elders of the Balkar People," sometimes "admit utterances, which do not contribute to strengthening the interethnic peace and accord in the Republic."

On July 14, the earlier prohibited by the authorities meeting of the Balkar people took place in Nalchik. Ruslan Babayev, Deputy Chairman of the "Board of Elders of the Balkar People," made the main presentation at the meeting and noted that the Balkar nation "is not kindling interethnic enmity, does not intend to quit Russia and calls on nobody to do so," however, "would not agree with the current status quo."

Mr Babayev said that the parity power representation is not observed in Kabardino-Balkaria. Thus, out of 100 deputies of the Parliament of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR) only 18 persons are Balkars. In the opinion of the speaker, the top leaders of the Republic should interchange with account of their nationality, and in all power bodies equal representation of the subject-forming nations should be ensured.