Residents of Izberbash report threats of arrests after a rally

In the Dagestani city of Izberbash, law enforcers have detained a minor teenager for calling for actions to protest against the lack of water supply, and after a rally of July 3, the Mayor threatened to arrest protestors, residents of Izberbash reported.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 3, residents of Izberbash gathered for a rally in front of the city administration with a demand to resume the supply of drinking water. The protestors voiced calls to block the federal highway. According to local residents, since early July, no water is supplied to their houses and they are forced to buy it not only for drinking.

On July 2, law enforcers detained a 16-year-old resident of Izberbash who used Instagram to call on city residents to go on July 3 and 4 to the Mayoralty to protest against the lack of water supply, the "Chernovik" (Draft) reported on July 4.

The detention of the teenager was reported by his parents.

"When we saw Suleiman, he was frightened. He feared to answer our questions. Then he said that [a top-ranking law official] promised to arrange problems for him," said a teenager's father as quoted by the "Chernovik".

On July 4, Izberbash Mayor Abdulmedjid Suleimanov met residents who went to a rally to protest against the lack of water supply to their houses and threatened them with arrests in case of new protest actions.

"Yesterday [on July 3], at a spontaneous rally, the police attempted to detain several participants, but people took them back. [On July 4], at a meeting with the Mayor, he and [a top-ranking law enforcer] threatened us with arrests if we continued unsanctioned actions. The Mayor has also let us understand that we should not even submit a notification to hold a sanctioned action and noted that he would not sanction protests anyway," said a resident of Izberbash as quoted by the "Kavkaz.Realii" on July 4.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 5, 2018 at 01:09 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.