Law enforcers consider picket of Kumyk activist Bektemir Salikhov as hooliganism

Today, activist Bektemir Salikhov has held a solo picket in Makhachkala. He demands from the Dagestani authorities to assist in the return of land to residents of the Kumyk villages of Alburikent, Kyakhulai, and Tarki, from which they were evicted during the Stalinist repressions. The police drew up against Bektemir Salikhov an administrative report for petty hooliganism, because the activist glued his posters to the pedestal of the Lenin monument.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 18, activist Bektemir Salikhov went to a solo picket in Makhachkala and demanded a meeting with Vladimir Vasiliev, the leader of Dagestan. The police took him to the Soviet ROVD (District Interior Division).

Almost immediately after the activist had started his solo picket, policemen approached him and claimed that his action was illegal. The picketer was not holding the posters in his hands, but glued them to the Lenin monument, and the policemen treated that as illegal actions.

Bektemir Salikhov did not resist the police and agreed to go to a police car. The policemen tore down all three posters. The picketer himself was brought to the Sovetsky ROVD of Makhachkala, where the policemen drew up against him an administrative protocol for petty hooliganism, the activist reported after his release. "The policemen began to claim that I allegedly desecrated the Lenin monument. Although the posters were glued to the pedestal," Bektemir Salikhov said. According to him, he and other activists intend to continue seeking a meeting with the leader of the republic.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 18, 2020 at 03:39 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.