Court dismisses complaint of Dagestani activist Ataev against his verdict

The Supreme Court (SC) of Dagestan has upheld the verdict passed to Eduard Ataev, an activist from Dagestan, within the case of possessing a grenade and narcotic drugs, ignoring the arguments of the defence and Ataev's statements of his innocence.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Eduard Ataev, a former coordinator of Alexei Navalny's* office in Makhachkala, was accused of possessing a grenade and drugs. In November 2023, he was sentenced to 6.5 years in penal colony. The human rights project "Support for political prisoners. Memorial" declared Ataev to be a political prisoner.

Eduard keeps claiming that the grenade and drugs had been planted on him, and linked his prosecution with his civic and political position and the fight against corruption.

Sherif Sherifov, his advocate, tried to draw the SC's attention to a number of circumstances that, in his opinion, prove falsifications during the search and consideration of the case. In particular, the source of information about Ataev's possible involvement in the crime was not indicated.

"I was monitoring elections, which in our country are often accompanied by falsifications, and criticized authorities. I associate this with the initiation of a criminal case against me," Ataev has stated.

*Navalny's offices were recognized as extremist organizations and banned in Russia. Alexei Navalny was a founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (known as FBK), an NCO that was included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent. The NCO was also recognized by a court as extremist and banned in the territory of Russia.