Head of "Memorial" office beaten in Makhachkala

Today, Sirazhudin Datsiev, the head of the Dagestani office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", has been beaten near his home in Makhachkala, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Murad Magomedov, an advocate of the HRC.

"He was hit to his head from the back. He lost consciousness, and attackers continued to hit him to other parts of his body. Sirazhudin Datsiev is now taken to the central hospital in Makhachkala. We still have no information about his condition," the advocate reported.

Let us remind you that on January 22, in Makhachkala, fire was set to a car of the HRC "Memorial" office. On the other day, on January 23, staff members of the Dagestani "Memorial" office got messages with threats and demands to stop their work, but the HRC "Memorial" refused to stop its activities in Dagestan.

In January, Nils Muižnieks, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, noted that the persecution of rights defenders in Northern Caucasus had reached a dangerous level. He urged the Russian authorities to ensure end of attacks on the HRC "Memorial".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.