Dmitry Kozak agreed on everything

compromise

The protest of Beslan residents ended late on Saturday. On Thursday morning, they blocked the Caucasus federal highway and declared that they would not leave until the President of the Republic, Alexander Dzasokhov, resigned (Kommersant wrote about this on January 22). But, as usual, the plenipotentiary representative of the Russian President in the Southern Federal District, Dmitry Kozak, managed to come to an agreement with the participants of the action.

Since last Thursday, Beslan residents, mainly mothers of children killed in the September terrorist attack, have been blocking the Caucasus highway at the junction leading to the airport. There were no traffic jams, but the drivers were forced to make a 20-kilometer detour. Even Deputy Prosecutor General Vladimir Kolesnikov had to avoid the picketers in this way. However, the authorities did not take repressive measures against people.

Late on Saturday evening, the picketers themselves cleared the passage, although even during the day they expressed their readiness to stand there until their demands were fully met. The main one, we recall, came down to the resignation of President Alexander Dzasokhov. In addition, the picketers protested against the statement of Deputy Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kolesnikov, who on Wednesday in Vladikavkaz at a press conference following the investigation of the terrorist attack said that there were no more than 32 militants at the school and that they brought weapons with them. The Beslan residents continue to insist that there were many more bandits, and that they hid weapons and explosives in the school in the summer.

Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy Dmitry Kozak managed to calm down the picketers by entering into telephone conversations with the protesters. He promised that he would come to North Ossetia on Tuesday and personally look into the current situation. As participants in the protest told Kommersant, Mr. Kozak also promised to discuss with the Beslan residents the possibility of holding a republican referendum on confidence in the President of Ossetia.

In addition, the picket participants obtained consent from the republican authorities to show on republican television a statement made by one of the leaders of the protesters, Susanna Dudieva. She stated that if the conversation with the plenipotentiary does not satisfy the Beslan residents, then the protests will continue. The appeal was broadcast only on the NTV channel, and the local Alania TV channel showed only video footage from the picketing site, accompanying them with the text of the official commentary.

“Honestly, I personally have the feeling that they decided to deceive us again,” Alla Nakusova, a participant in the action, told Kommersant. “What’s the main thing for them?” So that we get out of the way and not be an eyesore for journalists and themselves, that is, the authorities. We'll leave, and then they'll come up with something.

Another Kommersant interlocutor, who refused to introduce herself, noted:

— On Saturday afternoon, Dzasokhov met with representatives of the republic’s public. I’m just wondering what kind of public this is that hasn’t asked him a single question about why we’re standing here? Only a few heads of the district spoke out with condemnation, that’s all.

Indeed, at the meeting held in the building of the Ossetian Drama Theater, Mr. Dzasokhov did not say a word about what was happening at the entrance to Beslan. He limited himself to only general phrases that escalating the situation “plays into someone’s hands,” and “journalists from publications owned by fugitive billionaires are inflating and aggravating the situation in the republic.”

Nevertheless, the majority of those participating in the picketing still count on Mr. Kozak.

“We are not going to seize the government building, like in Cherkessk,” explained a man who did not give his name. “We just want to be listened to, and if anyone is sure that our task is to destabilize the situation in the republic, then they are mistaken.” . We don't want to destabilize anything. We are not going to storm the government either. Over there in Cherkessk, Kozak seems to have found the right words. Let's see what he tells us.

ZAUR Kommersant-FARNIEV, Vladikavkaz

Beslan left the Caucasus