23:49, 3 July 2024

Dagestani blogger Khadjimurad Khanov arrested for two months

Khadjimurad Khanov during his talk to a doctor. Screenshot of a video https://dagestan-news.net/society/2024/06/28/93051.html

The court has appointed the freedom deprivation measure of two months for Dagestani blogger, Khadjimurad Khanov, with in the case of illegal arms trafficking.

Khanov was charged with weapon possession, Shamil Khadulaev, the chairman of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) of Dagestan, wrote in his Telegram channel.

Charging Khanov with weapon and grenade possession is absurd; and law enforcers' attention to him is caused by the scandal surrounding his demands for an apology from a doctor in Khasavyurt regarding the niqab, to which Sergey Melikov, the head of Dagestan, had reacted, Dagestani journalists and activists believe. In their opinion, Khanov had overestimated his strength, since he disregarded the resonance scale amid the militant attacks in Makhachkala and Derbent, and the discussions about the ban on wearing niqabs underway in Dagestan.

On June 29, a video appeared in social networks in which a doctor from a Khasavyurt clinic apologized to a patient wearing a niqab. She explained that a misunderstanding arose between her and the girl, and the latter decided that she was denied medical care because of her religious clothing. The head of Dagestan stood up for the doctor who faced threats. After this, law enforcers detained Khanov, who demanded that the doctor apologize.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 3, 2024 at 04:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Source: Caucasian Knot