Journalist Magomed Magomedov complains about attempted disruption of picket in support of Gadjiev

A young man wearing a mask tried to join a solo picket in support of Abdulmumin Gadjiev, reports Magomed Magomedov, a deputy editor-in-chief of the Dagestani weekly newspaper “Chernovik’ (Rough Draft). He considered the incident an attempt to disrupt the picket.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that colleagues of Abdumumin Gadjiev consider his criminal case to be political persecution. Pickets in his defence have been held regularly since June 2019, when Abdumumin Gadjiev was detained. The pickets were disrupted only because of provocations and arrests of picketers.

The today’s picket in support of Abdumumin Gadjiev began calmly, but then an incident occurred that looked like a provocation, Magomed Magomedov said.

“A young man wearing a medical mask came up and unfolded a poster with the inscription ‘Freedom for Abdumumin Gadjiev’. I rolled up my poster and said that I was giving him the right to hold a picket ... But I draw his attention to the fact that the law prohibits standing at a picket in a mask and without documents, so I asked him take off his mask," Magomed Magomedov said.

According to him, the young man “flatly refused.” “I asked the police to check the man’s ID. The police took him away and soon released him ... After that, I continued my picket,” Magomed Magomedov added.

Let us remember that in January, weekly pickets held by Abdumumin Gadjiev’s colleagues in the support of the convicted journalist were disrupted three times. So, on January 29, Idris Yusupov*, a journalist of the “Novoye Delo” (New Clause), went out on a solo picket in support of Abdumumin Gadjiev, but the police interfered with the protest action until it had to be completed, because another man unfolded a similar poster and stood next to the picketer.

*On November 24, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) included Idris Yusupov in the register of foreign agents. The journalist filed an appeal against the MoJ’s decision.