Ex-head of Navalny's Dagestani headquarters upheld extension of arrest until December 16

The Supreme Court of Dagestan upheld the extension until December 16 of the arrest of the former head of Navalny’s local headquarters, Eduard Atayev. “Caucasus.Realities” writes about this.

Atayev is accused of possession of weapons (Part 1 of Article 222 of the Criminal Code), explosives (Part 1 of Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code) and drugs (Part 1 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code). At the end of March, the man was sent into custody - since then he has been in pre-trial detention center-3 in Khasavyurt.

After Atayev’s arrest, his lawyer told Kavkaz.Realii journalists about the searches that took place in his client’s apartment at the end of March: “He said that they came to search him and detained him. The things that were allegedly found on him, he, naturally, did not have. He connects this with his political activity.”

Also, during one of the court hearings, the arrested person stated that he had never used or stored drugs. The criminal case against Atayev has been heard in the Khasavyurt District Court on its merits since August 15.

Previously, the appeal twice overturned decisions to extend Atayev’s detention. On August 13, the Supreme Court of Dagestan declared one of these decisions illegal, and in September it sent for review the decision to extend the arrest until November 24. At the same time, the man was not released from the pre-trial detention center: in the first case, there was a more urgent decision to extend the preventive measure, and in the second, the appeal decided to keep Atayev in custody pending review.

• Navalny’s supporters have been trying to open a headquarters in Dagestan since February 2021. In April of the same year, Eduard Atayev, the then acting coordinator of the headquarters, was arrested for 10 days. In fact, the security forces kidnapped the activist, as well as another employee of Murad Manapov’s headquarters. The latter said that after his arrest they threatened him with torture and demanded a report on the plans of the headquarters.
• On June 9, 2021, the Moscow City Court recognized the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), the Foundation for the Protection of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny as extremist organizations. An appeals court later upheld this decision. After this, supporters of the opposition politician began to leave Russia en masse.